I am tired of changing the diapers of a two-and-a-half year old. So yesterday at Target I picked up these.
Hank was sitting in the buggy, and I handed him the package. "Look!" I said. His face grew serious and intent. The image of Thomas was very appealing, but he sensed trouble. I said, "These are big boy underwear! You can wear them instead of a diaper, and go peepee in the potty!" I radiated joy in his direction.
"Can we open these?" he asked.
"No, we'll open them at home and wear them. Do you want to do that?"
"No," he said.
We took them home anyway. As he played, I opened the package and spread the undies out on the table. I held up a pair and said, "Look, Hank! Let's take off your diaper and put on these Thomas underwear!"
He paused and looked at me. "Those are evil and bad," he said.
"What?"
"Those are evil and bad."
I let the point drop for the moment. Evil and bad? Where does he get this? But today he is wearing the evil and bad underpants, and has peed in the potty once, for which he was given a little Smartie candy. I'm thinking of them as potty pills. When I broach the issue of perhaps doing a number two in the toilet, he is deeply offended. When I follow him to one of his number two spots, like the book room--it's nice, quiet, and booklined in there--he yells at me to go away.
I guess if I were ensconced in the bathroom doing my business, and a much larger person burst in and suggested a change of venue, I'd be pretty ticked too. So we'll start small. My only issue is remembering to call them underwear and not panties, because I don't think dudes call their undergarments "panties," right?
Progress Update: Today, Sunday, Hank did a numero dos in the potty. Praisallujah! And Laura is the one who got him to do it. They were heading upstairs in the course of some game they were playing, and Hank was freeballing in the hopes that it would remind him to use the potty. I said, "Laura, be sure you listen for any potty murmurings." And Hank said, "I need to go poop!" Laura raced him to their bathroom, and Lo! Candy was handed out all around.
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22 comments:
evil and bad, LOL!
One might argue that a fellow who has the capacity to characterize a whole category of garments as, "...evil and bad..." could be reasoned with on this subject. If he came to understand that it was in his best interest to change the venue of his number two, he might be prevailed upon to do so.
The evil and bad thing IS hilarious! Stay the course. Nate cried for the first couple days every time I sat him on the potty, "Me don't know HOW!" Number 2's took longer but it'll happen.
He is a character!
Evil and bad indeed! I feel for ya both.
Number 2 was tough at our house too. Downright poop refusal. It too shall pass.
Sorry couldn't resist. :) (topped it off with an emoticon to boot)
lol! Well I'll agree with him on Thomas being "evil and bad" but that's probably not what he meant. Good luck! I'm waiting til it's warmer out so I can just let X run around naked.
My 4-year-old daughter loves Thomas & Friends, and she was deeply impressed by those Target underpants you showed. She said, "Those must be VERY expensive."
Best of luck!
I can't wait for those days to come. Not that I can complain about 2 month old baby diapers.
Ha! Yes, VERY expensive--only the finest! I love how kids think.
And Crazy, you're right, the baby diapies aren't so bad. But when you're talking about a person who eats regular food. . .not fun.
We have done the run-around-naked-in-the-house thing, and that does work a little. I think being naked reminds him he can't just let it fly, though sometimes he does.
Becky -- I love the way you can think like a 2 1/2-year-old boy! As always, your posts are so good. Thanks for sharing.
Good luck with this one, we're nowhere near the potty training stage. And I don't even use the term panties.... I hate that word for some reason.
One of my friends swore by the whole naked thing, but I never tried it. Potty training...not my favorite mommy task! Good luck!
We have the very same Thomas panties, er, underpants. Only in our house they are amazing and magical instead of evil and bad. (Not magical enough to prevent nap- and night-time accidents, but that's why the good Lord invented Pull-Ups.)
And of course, candy incentives always work. Wave a Smartie in my direction and I'm putty in your hands.
I told my daughter not to pee on the princess, it will make them sad. She did once and said, "oh no, princess sad." Then she went and got a new pair and said, "this one is happy." Maybe you could try that with thomas. Our singing potty worked really well also. Kind of expensive, but worth the money I have saved in diapers.
No panties around here. Even I wear underwear. You guys sound like you are well on your way.
The update is hysterical. What a great big sis! Freeballing? LOL. We call it free-hanging in our house. i.e. the boys wear pajama bottoms to bed but underneath they are free-hanging.
Oh happy day! Kathy told me what Hank said. Hilarious!
We're working on the potty training thing a little bit, too. Last night we had a break through and little dude pee-peed in the potty. After much praise and Luke running bare-assed through the house in celebration, I'm hoping that this will be the start of something wonderful...no more diapers. Oh wait, I'm doing this again in May. ;)
Way to go, Hank!
becky you make potty training look easy! my peditrician said Oscar is ready and I should just put him in underpants with a plastic cover on the outside. he thinks he'll dislike the feeling of poop/pee in his pants so much, he'll start going in the toilet. I am less sure of this method.
Hey Jenni, that might work. I think that's the old school method. I like the go-naked method, and every little while I just say, "Do you want to go to the potty?" or "Let's go sit on the potty." Some successes are inevitable (as are a couple of accidents). But for an older toddler, I think it's all about just letting them see that they can.
I've read about the one-day method too, and it may be good. I'm a little doubtful of anything that is supposed to take just one day.
Isn't it hard not to laugh out loud when they parade around in those whacky kid briefs?
A friend of mine tried the Dr. Phil method, though I can't remember what was involved. I do remember that it didn't (gasp) work.
Over here, the negligent mother that is me did absolutely NOTHING. One day, I'd say within a week of Mr. M's 3rd birthday, he just magically started using the toilet. Maybe it was reverse psychology at work? Since no one cared if he stuck with diapers, he decided he'd move on, on his own. Good luck, friend!
Can Laura come to my house? It seems as if Angel Eyes is only potty trained at school but at home - nah, forget it!
This is SO FUNNY. You're a great storyteller and your son is a hoot! I wonder if my kid knows about "evil and bad". Maybe that's why he won't wear the underwear I got him!
We're trying to use M&Ms as our "potty pills". He's a mad addict for "go-gock" (chocolate) as he calls it.
Evil and bad.
Beautiful.
This boy is clearly going to grow up to be just as brilliant as his mama.
I am now following you again! Blogger tried to goof me up with their weird changes and anonymous status default. But I overcame. I will not be denied my daily dose o' Becky goodness.
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