He didn't do that, and of course he's not 30 yet either. As soon as I put him into cloth diapers (before he was 2 1/2) he told me he needed to poop and pee on the potty. There was no looking back... so I thought.
Although Isaac is so pumped to be attending preschool two short afternoons a week with his big brother, and although he has stayed dry at school itself, it is not without "complications."
"Mom, I peed."
"Oh man, where?" (hesitant, I'm never really happy about the answer when he says this)
"On the chair." "On the floor." "On my toy." "On the bed." "In my pants."
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Isaac RARELY, if ever, poops his pants, but he sure does seem to pee all over the friggin house lately. He has ruined 3 chairs (with cloth covers), caused me to need to steam clean my carpets once already, and has today alone gone through 4 outfits.
"WHY Ikey? WHY?" I plead.
"Cuz I want to."
Oh, he's smart. I can't get mad. Over and over I say and he repeats, "only on the potty." He gets it and quite frankly I'm not going to try to figure him out. I have to be more on my game. If I get him to sit on the potty prior to transitions, he'll do it, but if I leave him to his own devices, he will find a creative place to go.
Now, as for my 3 1/2 year old... today, after realizing that Isaac ripped off his diaper (which had been dry overnight) only to pee on a toy and the floor, my older son, who was completely naked after an overnight accident (his first in well over a week) was pooping quietly in the potty. I went into the bathroom and he had of course gotten on and off the potty a thousand times which resulted in MANY smears of poop on the toilet seat, a dollop of pooh on the floor, poop all over his bum....
The clincher that made me feel like I just had to let it go this morning and not let this become a disaster, was my book, my poor unread book, covered in poop, sitting in the sink.
"ELIJAH!" (I'm exasperated at this point, I hadn't even cleaned the pee in the other room yet.) "What did you do to my book?"
"I put it in the toilet in my poop." Matter of fact.
"Why?????"
"Cuz I wanted to."
Smart kid, good reason. Testing out cause and effect.
"Ugh, Elijah I hadn't even read that book yet, I'm so sad."
"Mom, are you sad?"
"A little."
"Oh." Thinks... "Mom, should I have a bath now?"
"Yes."
That was it. Elijah was fine the rest of the day, I didn't freak out, he got I was upset, Isaac peed his pants about a million more times, and we went through our day.
Tomorrow, we will try again! I let go of my expectations today and we worked through things. Was it frustrating? Yes. Was it better than the day I had yesterday? YES! The ONE AND ONLY reason I think I handled all this backwards unpottytraininglike behavior without blowing a gasket completely? SLEEP. I got a good night sleep the night before. I felt like a million dollars.
