Potty Training the Hen

I'm sure I'm cursing myself by saying this, but I think that Henry is pretty much potty trained! Over the past few months, Scott and I have been bickering about when to start the training process. Henry would tell us IMMEDIATELY when he was dirty or wet and he enjoyed watching other members of the family use the toilet, but he showed little to no interest in actually sitting on the toilet himself. We didn't own a small potty, because that was never Max's "thing." Max, in fact, insisted upon using the big toilet from day one. He would hang his little bottom down in there and cling to the sides for dear life. While this technique worked for him, it was clearly not going to fly with his little brother.

So, one day last week, Scott suggested that we could get a small potty for Henry. Henry was very enthusiastic and wanted to go to the store that very moment to pick one out. We hauled the family over to Tot Tank, a local kids' supply wonderland here in Alameda, and let Henry peruse the offerings. He picked out a snazzy green and white number which we are now calling the Cadillac of potty seats because it turns out that the damn thing cost $43!!!! We picked up a potty watch, some bribes, and some underwear and settled in for Potty Training Boot Camp.

All day last Sunday I stayed home with Henry while Scott got Max out of the house. I put Henry on the potty every ten minutes whether he liked it or not (and initially, it was mostly "not"). Eventually, he had a success and was rewarded with M & Ms (yes, I feel terrible about bribing my child with food, but I was already not going to win the parent of the year award after letting my kids watch too much TV and ride bikes at the professional BMX track). In any case, we went through a lot of underwear and pairs of pants, but about four hours in, Henry really began to get it. By the end of the day, he was even telling me when he needed to go!

Monday and Tuesday were better and better and the kid was even pooping in the potty by Wednesday. Last night Henry got up to use the potty at midnight and then went right back to bed. First thing this morning, he and his brother went to the bathroom together and when I walked in, I found them each enthroned on their respective seats. Pretty exciting stuff!

I am so proud of Henry, and I'm very excited about being done with diapers. At the same time, like most milestone moments, this one is tinged with sadness for the Mama who is gradually losing her baby. As Henry said to me yesterday, "I'm not a little big kid anymore. I'm a real a big kid now."