I’ve just recently found out that I’m pregnant – again! This will be number 3 and we have not yet recovered from our second daughter’s colicky start to life 18 months ago. She still sleeps less than 8 hours on any given day and has boundless energy. She’s a bright youngster with an ever growing vocabulary and an insatiable thirst for taking things apart – clothespins to cassette tapes, .
Being the super efficient mother that I am – after all, I am now 26 years old with two university degrees and two children – I know it all and will prove it, too! A dear friend has loaned me her book “Toilet Training in 24 Hours” and I’ve read it from cover to cover. It’s a scientifically based method of training your child at the optimum age of 18 months. Lucky for me that I got my hands on this just at the right time! My plan is that tomorrow, my husband will take our eldest daughter out for the day – some wonderful “together” time for them and I will toilet train Lindsay. It’s that simple. I have boxes of chocolate rosebuds that she loves so much, the family potty chair with the flip up lid and a cute dark haired doll that has a hole for the “pee”.
The day has arrived. Weather is glorious for Dad and daughter number one to set off on their adventures. Unbeknownst to Lindsay, Mom has an adventure planned for her today. .. OK first things first: explain to the child what you are doing and why, followed by removal of her diaper. Done. Next, give her a drink as noted in the book. Show child how to “feed” the doll, doing so over the potty chair in order to view stream of “pee”. Done. We pretend to give the doll a rosebud with each success. Lindsay then pops each in her mouth and smiles with delight. We practice this at least a dozen times then I am instructed to take her outside for some playtime. This diversion, the book tells me, is going to enable her to come back to the doll and not only remember what the doll does, but will apparently be able to transfer this knowledge to herself…hmmm. OK, if the book says so, it must be true.
So out we go to the swing set, but Lindsay has a mind of her own and wants to play in the sandbox. With all those drinks in her, I wonder doesn’t she have to pee now? I should have listened to my gut because she pees while trying to climb over the side. She puts her hand out and says, “Wosebud, peese.” Yes, she’s getting part of the picture…
After cleaning her up, we return to the task at hand. Lindsay takes the baby bottle and “feeds” her doll. She giggles with delight at the stream going into the potty chair and grabs another rosebud for the doll.
“Lindsay, you can do this too.” She has a puzzled look on her chocolate smeared face. “You can sit on the potty and pee, just like your big sister and mommy! You don’t have to wear a diaper anymore! Isn’t that great?”
“No way, hosey!” is her reply and I’m deflated on the floor, holding dolly. I eye the book and wonder if my friend’s success was a fluke…
Three months later Lindsay runs down the hall and hands me her diaper. “Yucky, mommy.”
“Well, if you’re not going to wear a diaper, you’ll have to use the potty.”
“OK, hosey!” she exclaims.
And that was the last diaper she ever wore…
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