I’m cranky today, and not feeling very inspired. I generally try to incorporate Works For Me Wednesday posts into what I am already writing about my “Journey Away From Slobdom” but that’s just “not working” for me today.
I could not link up, but I’ve met quite a few of you through WFMW, and I hate to miss one. Plus, I thought of a good tip that totally worked for me.
Being a slob, I get overwhelmed by messes. My kids aren’t allowed to eat in the living room. But I know neat freaks who DO let their kids eat in theirs. It really doesn’t make sense at first glance.
My theory is that they aren’t intimidated by messes. They just clean them up. They know that if something spills, they’ll have to stop and clean it up, but it isn’t the end of the world.
I imagine that if something spilled, it would take FOREVER to get it cleaned up and so it probably wouldn’t be worth the effort and so my couch would be ruined forever and so I would be forced to live with a stained couch because we can’t afford to replace it right now and so I would be embarrassed for anyone to see my home and so I would cry every single day.
When it comes to Potty Training (yes, it’s a proper noun and should be capitalized), I have found that the big secret . . . is that there is no big secret. You can try all the little tricks in the world but the only thing that really works is when you put them in undies. Not just put them in undies, but keep them in undies. They’ll be potty-trained when they realize that you’re serious. That you’re not going to go back to diapers or pull-ups. I was given the advice to clear your calendar for a week and not go ANYWHERE.
She was right. With my first, he went through 17, yes SEVENTEEN changes of clothes in the first day, AND I only had 6 pairs of undies for him. I washed every single item of dirty laundry in the house that day. When my husband came home in the evening, I collapsed on the floor and mumbled because I didn’t even have the strength to move my lips.
But when I put undies on him the next morning, he knew I meant business and started learning to go the potty when he needed to. Within a week, we were in business. Not perfect, but on our way.
So what’s my big tip?
Since I’m a slob AND a germaphobe and can’t handle the thought of pee on my couch and the total impossibility of ever getting it decontaminated, I took all of my waterproof crib protector thingys, and covered every couch/upholstered chair/ottoman in the living room. I put pretty throws on top of the protectors and nobody was the wiser. Until they sat on them and felt the crackle. But everyone thought it was a great idea and didn’t mind.
There you go. I’m not Dr. Phil, but it’s what has worked for me for three kids now.
I agree 100%. I am in the middle of potty training my 2yo and at first kept him in pull ups thinking that was the right thing to do because he is in day care part time. NOT, right into underware is the ONLY way to do it. Confuses them too much any other way. He know is perfect except the poop.BTW-my oldest (a girl) was so easy, but boys are another story!
I agree as well. I put mine in underwear over the weekend and he had 1 accident! Took him to preschool where they had a cow and said I must use pull-ups I quote "we can't have kids peeing and pooping all overthe place, it's not sanitatry" NO it isn't but making him revert back to a glorified diaper doesn't work either! He's almost there and with a 4 day weekend I think we will have it! Love your post!!
I like your tip! I definitely agree that underwear helps kids learn much faster than superabsorbent fake underwear.
You can reduce the changes of entire outfits by putting a leak-resistant cloth-diaper cover over the underpants. We used Dappi nylon pull-on covers. When the kid starts to pee, feels the wetness, stops, and hurries to the bathroom, only the underpants get wet. The cover can't hold in a whole bladderful (without more absorbency than underpants provide) but it does help prevent the kid from leaving a trail across the floor.
Other ways to keep furniture dry are a shower curtain or a double-layer poly-fleece blanket.
Ha ha! This made me laugh. I love your openness and candidness.
My fear (which I am now seeing needs to be overcome) is little puddles in every corner of my house…little piles of poop in the middle of my beige carpeted livingroom…etc. *sigh* Why can't they come potty trained? LOL!!!
I will probably give the undies a try. Thanks for your thoughts. 🙂
for anyone that reads this latter on… especially those with carpets… have an old towel and a bottle of white vinegar, baking soda, and water at the ready! it will help nutralize any odors ( mix the baking soda and water first and leave space in the top of the spray bottle or you will eventually gas out… yes i know the combo in “essance” is water but it surpizingly works really well…. not sure why but it has always worked with potty training dogs! ( not cat spray tho.. dont bother get professional help for that!
And I really need to get started on my nightly chores, but in the process of reading your blog from the beginning, I just had to click on “one more” when I saw this title. Need to get started with my boy who is turning 2 and a half this month. With my girls I potty-trained them together and we just went fully naked for a couple of months. But my boy insists on being fully dressed down to shoes and socks at all times. I think I’m just going to have to suck it up and do a lot of laundry. I’ve already been cleaning up puppy potty-training stains, so I might as well add a little boy to the mix after we get back from Spring Break.
Everyone says my son is still to young to potty train but he has all the “ready” signs. We got him a potty chair on his 1st birthday and mock goes when I use the big potty. He wore pull-ups for two months mainly because he figured out how to take the diaper off. Now that we are settled into our new house I want to hit Potty Training head on. I’m scared to death for our new beige carpet though!
My mom thought I had waited too long to potty train my daughter, so when she came to visit us for a week she made it her mission to train her herself. I had already purchased some training pants (thick underwear) which Mom had my daughter wear. In just a few days, she was trained to use the potty. When Mom left to return home, she told me, “I better not catch you putting diapers on her again!” I think we only had a couple accidents during the night. Other than that, my daughter did great! Thanks, Mom! (I sure miss her…she passed away almost three years ago.)