Monday, February 25, 2008

Potty Training Success! And Speaking of Poop, “The Oscars”


Guess what? I have a nearly potty-trained 2 and a half-year-old. That’s right, and it only took a little over a year - well, if you count my first attempt at 18-months.
Yes, I know there are some that can potty train a 3-month old; it’s not like I haven’t gotten the emails, comments, etc. with statements like “it’s easy! I did it and BILLIONS have too, just buy my book...” I’m sure they have and God bless them for it. But as I soon found out, kids come in all kinds of varieties and you just have to adjust the training based on their personality.

For instance, some toddlers don’t want Elmo to cry every time they go poop in their pants; in my daughter’s case, she wanted to see Elmo cry. Which makes me wonder a little….

Anyhow, what worked was just having her run around the house pantless and to have plenty of cleaning supplies around. We offered stickers as a reward for pee, and hung a fancy Princess dress over the toilet for poop. Once she poops, she gets to run around the house for a while in the dress, yelling such things as “I’m Sleeping Booty! I’m Sleeping Booty!”

And then I give her money for her piggy bank. The wife taught her what money is and to ask me for it. Which reminds me, I still have to thank her for that…

We did get some “scares” - one day she didn’t do anything for nearly 7 hours; that was a little creepy. She kept asking for a diaper and I stuck to my guns and kept refusing. I thought she was going to explode given all the gas she was passing. I kept trying to avoid her backside just in case anything came shooting out like a bullet… maybe leaving a hole in the wall with a view of the backyard.

She eventually pooped. When I picked her up, I swear she had lost about 9 pounds.

The Oscars – The Only Time I Yell At The TV Like A Drunk Ex-Football Coach

Did anybody watch the Oscars?

I still can't believe “No Country for Old Men” won Best Picture. Talk about a HUGE disappointment. A good premise, build-up, and good performances (Javier Bardem – great!) and then completely ruined by a stupid ending that made absolutely no sense. I had to skip back on our screener and watch it again because the wife and I thought we missed something.

My advice if you see the movie, walk out or turn it off 10 minutes before it ends (when Josh Brolin drives into the motel.) If not, be prepared to get an explanation by somebody who “read the book.”
Apparently, the requirement is to have read the book to enjoy their movies now.

I recommend the other MUCH better films such as The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Juno, or Away from Her.

Now it's time to put Sleeping Booty to bed and open some windows...

36 comments:

SciFi Dad said...

Hooray for you and your daughter!

(As for doing nothing for 7 hours... that's nothing. Sometimes, if we let her have too much cream of wheat and/or rice, we're looking at days, literally. Now THAT was frightening.)

Yaniv said...

Congrats!

"Anyhow, what worked was just having her run around the house pantless and to have plenty of cleaning supplies around."

If it works on puppies, it has to work on humans! :-)

(That's how we did it, too; it's also how my parents potty-trained my siblings and I way back when...)

Radioactive Tori said...

Hooray for potty training! Congratulations!

Anonymous said...

Yay for potty training success! Does that mean no more funny potty posts, though? Maybe I'm rethinking my excitement.

Ugh, The Oscars. They are so predictable - I wish one day they would choose a long shot rather than the obvious, safe choice. I too thought No Country was overhyped. I just saw "There Will Be Blood" too, and despite a strong performance from Daniel Day-Lewis, it was sort of slow and tedious. And the soundtrack was super-annoying.

slow panic said...

potty trained (almost) at 2 1/2? you are my parenting hero.

i'm sorry, but people who said it is easy just had kids that were wired for easy potty training. in my nine long years of parenting i have to say at my house that was the WORST thing ever. and I regularly watch Power Rangers -- just to give you some perspective.

Amber said...

Congrats on the potty training. See, even if you were risking a turd-missile going through the wall, it is a good thing you stuck to your guns.

Beck said...

I FORGOT THE OSCARS WERE ON.
Good for your munchkin! We're encountering some big obstacles in our quest for diaper-free living.

painted maypole said...

well. i loved the movie. but now I am wondering if I've missed something by not having READ THE BOOK.

Anonymous said...

You're the Potty Man.

LOL.

I was sooo disappointed with last night's oscars. I kept flicking channels hoping to find something entertaining.

Whit said...

The only movie I saw was There Will Be Blood, which was very powerful, yet slow. The soundtrack was cool and haunting- done by the guitarists from Radiohead I hear.

I wish they would make reading the book a prerequisite to seeing movies- can you imagine a whole theater filled with literate people? That would be amazing.

Coal Miner's Granddaughter said...

Damn. You are brave. Half-nekid non-potty trained kid running around the house. I just would have followed her around with a bucket.

Congratulations! But I'll miss the fun "How do I get my princess to poop?!?!" posts.

Anonymous said...

Hooray for pooping princesses. Don't put those cleaning things away just yet though!

Jason Roth said...

Now that you've trained your kid...can I hire you to train ours?

Maureen said...

Congrats!

And yes, I was so pissed at the Oscars.. I was totally rooting for Juno and anything for Mr. Depp.

mama speak said...

Congrats on the potty training, but don't count your chickens yet; our first did this and then realized she held the power & decided she wasn't playing anymore. Lucky for us it was summer, so we spent most days nekkid on the patio w/the potty.

We've broken down & finally started a daily potty training routine with DD2, so it's on. If you're missing your poop stories come on over to my blawg, I'm sure I will soon have many more to contribute.

mama speak said...

Oh, meant to mention it was Shlepping Booty in our house for months, it was a sad, sad day when DD1 lost the lisp.

kittenpie said...

Congrats - on the training and on having a toddler not quite willing to withhold until she bunged herself up past helping. They can do it, you know.

And me, I wouldn't know if any of the movies were good this year... sigh.

ronupnorth said...

congrats CTD! it's all down hill from here :-)

kaotic chick said...

NO country was an obvious winner..a classic among killer movies..check out this st nick version the coen brothers came out with...you have got to see this..
http://effinfunny.com/nocountryforolstnick
Hilarious

pixie said...

Those people that claim they can potty-training their kids at 3 months are actually training themselves to sprint across the room like mad men any time their baby makes a scrunchy face. 2 and a half is perfectly normal -- actually, it's quite early. What's sad is that parents often compare the ages of their potty-trainers as if it's a sign of real accomplishment like S.A.T. scores.

And the Oscars did suck. No surprises -- all the "favorites" won.

Sarah said...

So is your family singing I'm a Super Duper Pooper?

Dad Stuff said...

I hadn't seen any of the movies this year so I had no clue what was going. I thought Jon Stewart was funny thought.
Congrats to Sleeping Booty.
I always get cranky when my booty falls asleep.

Creative-Type Dad said...

Sarah O. -- Only at home. We're now having problems with potty's that are outside of the house now...

pixie -- Completely true! Even worse is the older generation that claims kids were all trained at 1 year and never had an accident ever.

kaotic chick -- Totally disagree on the film - go search around for reviews from non "pro" critics" or film students, I'm not the only one that hated the ending.
Thinking about the movie ending leaves me even more unsatisfied and frustrated. I just have to pretend it never happened, or maybe watch Raising Arizona again (one of my all time favorites.)

Maureen -- I really liked Juno - between the humor and seriousness of the subjuct. I especially enjoyed the relationship of she and her father. They didn't portray him as a clueless guy and most films do in these types of movies.

Whit -- I haven't seen that one yet. We have the screener and the wife saw it, but she didn't like the slow pacing of it. The primary reason why she didn't vote for it.

Pageant Mom said...

"Potty trained"

One of the truly great phrases esp when used in context concerning one's progeny.

Oscar's? With the exceptions of Dreamgirls and Little Miss Sunshine, I look to see which movies I can totally avoid.

Oscar usually = I won't get it.

btw I can't WAIT to see Speedracer

;o)

Mighty Morphin' Mama said...

Hooray on the potty training! I have posted a bit on that lately too. My 2.5 year old girly just trained herself in 4 days. She is a freak! But really, she just wanted the pretty princess panties. Going out can be a bit of a hassle,she does fine in public restrooms, it is just other people's homes that throw her off.
All 3 of her older brothers trained around their 3rd birthday. I tried earlier with 2 of them, but you really have to wait til they are ready - then it takes days rather than the months that some of my gf's have gone through.

Thanks for dropping by my little home in the bloggy world.

Unknown said...

LOL love your technique. in fact my mother used that one on me and my brother. She said it took four days!

If only it would work for my three year old. Yes he's three and no he isn't trained. He was a preemie and so he's delayed. He may be three but his mind is that of a two year old.

So we are not quiet there yet. Although his pull ups are dry at school but even his teachers say he won't go in the potty.

Paco Argenti said...

Huzzah on the potty training.

Beverly said...

I had a kid out of diapers at age 2-1/2, one at age 1-1/2 and one at age 3-1/2. So, it's not all about ME after all. They are their own people, right from the start.

The Real Mother Hen said...

I didn't see any of the movies being nominated this year, except Sicko, which was so bloody depressing (but truth).

dennis said...

Knowing that you work on the far Left Coast, I would have thought that you would have tried Fleemco by now?

However, now that she is potty trained and trained to look for that handout, perhaps it is time to look down the road at your future.

Yes, the future that you will swear WILL NEVER HAPPEN AT MY HOUSE!!

The one where you will make certain, even have tear-filled fights with the darling girl. The one where you will insist she go potty before leaving the house on any errand/trip, no matter how short.

Because if you do not insist that one time...

'Daddy, I need to go potty!'

That is the time you will be locked in traffic or 5 miles from anywhere and there are not enough wipes in the world to make this scenerio right!

Jackie said...

Hi five on potty training!!
My son has finally got it down too and the pantless method is also what worked for him (I obnoxiously recommend it everyone I know now who is potty training...OK, not really, but I'm tempted!)

Creative-Type Dad said...

Jackie -- Yes, I totally recommend that method. The only problem now is that she only uses the potty at home when she's pantless.

Beverly -- Wow! That is a range. I think that's the best example to every parent showing how they are different.

♥♥♥ A- Licious ♥♥♥ said...

ohboy. potty training.

again - funny as hell-o.

you have a way with images...yes, yes you do.

crack n up again...LOL

sleepy booty...ha!

;o)

Amrita said...

Hard work paid off

Lisa Wheeler Milton said...

My husband despised the ending too - well, the non-existent ending and griped that I *made* him go with me.

I still haven't made it to The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Looks fascinating.

Creative-Type Dad said...

Lisa Milton -- Your husband and I would get along well.
I felt like I wasted 2 hours of my life - that's how angry I was.

I could have been doing something better, like watching Golden Girls.