Potty Training: Day One

It's time for Harrison to be potty trained. Actually, it's well past time. We tried a couple of times in the past, but since we weren't really set on it, neither was he.

Now it's time. I'm ready, so he better be ready, too. The problem is we waited a little too long and now he is too stubborn to learn. Too bad. He has to learn.

Elisha took Kendall up north for a couple of days, so it's just Harrison and me. What a perfect time for us to focus our attention. In theory.

Day one hasn't exactly been successful. We're trying the total immersion technique. Load him up with all the drinks he doesn't normally get then take him to the toilet every half-hour to see what happens. He gets a reward first and foremost for being dry. If he ever uses the thing, he'll get a reward for that too. The idea here is to reinforce the importance of staying dry.

Here are a few lessons learned from day one:

Lesson One: Don't argue with a kid while his pants are down.

As our day begins, I'm changing Harrison out of his diaper and pleading with him to put on underpants, for he's not really a fan of them. Sometime between begging and showing him that Daddy has underwear too, our closest attempt at hitting the toilet happened. Harrison just let things go and he wasn't wearing anything. Sadly this is the only time today that he didn't wet his pants. He just wet the floor.

Lesson Two: Never trust the timer.

Harrison did finally put on the underpants. They stayed on until about 30 seconds before the second timer went off. While I was cleaning up the mess, the timer chimes and I curse irony.

The timer was just as useful on the next pair of wet underwear. This time the timer got to us in time. It wasn't until we were done with our dryness check and enjoying the reward that Harrison went again.

Lesson Three: Never ignore the timer.

We were playing outside when I realized it had been awhile since we had done a dryness check. Trying to convince a toddler to go inside to stand, yet again, at the toilet instead of playing outside is not a good idea. Sometime during this negotiation, Harrison reminded me that I should have paid closer attention to the timer.

Harrison is in bed now...with a diaper on. We will try again tomorrow. (If this doesn't work, my next plan is to let the peer pressure of kindergarten do the trick!)

The one shining moment today, for me at least, is that apparently potty training scares the poop out of Harrison, or it scares it into him. Day one never had a really messy diaper. Will I be so lucky on Day Two?