We had a great day in the potty training department yesterday. No, not all of everything went into the potty, but Edward was able to tell me each time he needed a diaper change, and even when he might have been about to need a diaper change. This is an important step, but even more exciting was the fact that he actually peed in his little potty! Three times! Well, sort of three times.
It seems that Edward has learned to work the system. He figured out that he gets a piece of candy for peeing in the potty, so after he went, he got big hugs, cheers, praise, and candy. We poured the pee into the real toilet and flushed it down, and two minutes later, Edward decided that he needed to pee again. So once again he peed a decent amount into the potty, eliciting more cheers, hugs, praise, and, most importantly, candy.
We got rid of the pee for the second time and went back downstairs, at which point he decided that he needed to pee again. And wouldn’t you know it, he really did. And he wanted more candy. Now, I don’t know how the official rules work on this issue, I may have to consult the parenting manual that comes when your kids are born, but I’m pretty sure that he was still working on that same bladder-full of pee. I gave him a slightly smaller hug, slightly fewer cheers, and praise that was a bit less enthusiastic, but I did not have any smaller candies, so he got the same amount: one piece.
Honestly, as long as he is excited about using the potty and I don’t have to change diapers, he can have the extra candy. I just hope he does not divide all of his pees up into multiple evacuations every time. Not only does it drag out the whole process into a twenty minute ordeal, but it is also terrifying to watch him precariously carry that pee up the stairs for flushing. He insists on carrying it himself. Now, I know what you are thinking: children cannot really insist on anything that their parents will not allow, and if I really wanted to, I could get my way. Well, that may or may not be true, but if you would like to have an argument with a two year old holding a bucket of his own urine, be my guest. I’m going to just hang back and pray.