Potty Training. Again.

The downside to having more than one child is that you have to go through potty training for each one. It doesn’t make it easier or less messy, you just learn when is best to start and how best to go through it. For me, this means several things:

1. Do not attempt when child is too lazy to even walk to get his water bottle.
2. Recommended not to attempt when child is unable to communicate needs.
3. Let them wear comfy thin cotton shorts – easy for you to wash, easy for them to access (probably only applies to boys).
4. Prepare tons of paper towels and small plastic bags for clean-ups.
5. Keep the floor free from clutter. You really wouldn’t want pee (or worse, poop) on your things.
6. Remind child to go toilet every so often. (This time, it’s about 1.5 hrs per reminder for Kee. Josh had to be asked every hour.)
7. When accidents happen, appear nonchalant and remind them to go toilet next time. For stubborn kids who are able but forgetful, display slight annoyance.
8. Cause discomfort by washing up child with cold water to deter recurrence. (This is purely because I’m a psychotic mom.)
9. Do not offer treats/rewards for going to the toilet. Peeing in the correct place is a GIVEN. It should not need to be rewarded. (Yes I am a nasty mom too.)

We are halfway into the first day of things, and so far the score is:

Floor – 2 
Potty – 0 

Despite being able to tell me “pee pee must go toilet”, Kee insists on coming to bug me and yelling “I want bear bear candy!!” both times when he needed to pee. I have yet to figure out why.

Come to think of it, Josh was fully pee-trained at the age of 2, just before Kee was born… And he couldn’t even speak yet! Kee has some serious catching up to do!