Silly Mom Thoughts

When Bug first started potty training last year, I vowed to never ever offer extrinsic rewards for going on the potty. No sticker charts, no toys, and especially no candy. I wanted him to go on the potty and feel intrinsically rewarded, I wanted him to do it for himself because he felt good about it. That all sounded well and good, and it worked for a little while, but then the poo accidents started. And continued. They were gross.

Since January, Bug hasn’t gone #2 on the potty more than once or twice per week. The rest of the time, often more than once per day, he was droppin’ dukes in his pants like “Woops, did I do that?” It was frustrating, disgusting, and incredibly disheartening. Last week, I reached my breaking point, when Bug caught a… well, bug, and had some really great surprises for me in his pants. I’ll spare you the gruesome details, but lets just say they often involved an impromptu shower to clean him off.

Saturday, Turk and I were talking about this little issue and he suggested we try a different tactic. Obviously, nothing we were doing was working, no matter how patient we were with his accidents. And frankly, I cannot take the mess anymore.

“The YMCA daycare gives the kids a Gummi Bear if they poop on the potty,” Turk said.

“No, I don’t want to reward him with candy,” I replied flatly.

“Well, nothing else is working,” he reasoned.

Good point.

“Alright, we’ll give it a try,” I conceded.

Sunday, I picked up a ginormous pack at Target. I brought it home and Bug’s eyes boggled.

“What’s dat?!” he asked.

“Gummi Bears ,” I replied. “You get one when you poop on the potty.”

Bug ran straight for the bathroom, sat on the toilet and grunted like a caveman.

“I can’t do it, Mama!” he groaned.

“That’s okay, buddy, they’ll still be here when you do have to go.”

He didn’t have to go all night and I thought maybe the novelty of the treat idea had worn off on him. Then, this morning I heard him pad to the bathroom and do his business.

Yessss! Finally!

I patted his back, told him how proud I was, wiped him up and led him back to his room.

Maybe he forgot about the Gummi Bears after all, I thought.

He looked up at me with those huge blue eyes, still droopy from sleep, and said, “Mommy, I get a Gummi Bear now?”

“Yes, buddy, you get a Gummi Bear,” I said, and handed him his potty reward.

Once upon a time, I said never. I should know better by now than to say “never” to anything. Apparently, he is a reward-driven kind of kid, and for right now, I’ll do whatever it takes if it means not having to clean up poo messes all day long.

This is slightly off-topic, but it does have to do with Gummi Bears. Do you remember the Gummi Bear show? “Gummi Bears, bouncing here and there and everywhere…” Turk and I were just talking about that show last night. Too funny.