Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Cold Baths and Laundry

I have discovered that Leeann can take the clothes out of the dryer and put them on my bed (which she finds great joy in making my bed by the way!), and then put the clothes from the washer into the dryer with the help of a step stool. Together, we've already gotten more laundry done this morning then we manage to during most weeks! Okay, so maybe that isn't really saying much!

Speaking of laundry, I've been irritated by the fact that Titus's socks and t-shirts seem to have all but disappeared. Or, they were still packed away in a backpack that I hadn't unpacked from Shelly's house 3 weeks ago... that's the other option! Sometimes I amaze myself!

In other news, I've been operating somewhat on the notion that you should wait until your kids are ready to potty train them. Titus REFUSES to go on the potty. Pastor Joel said, "What motivation would you have to learn to go potty if you had someone clean you up every time you went?" He suggested cold baths to clean him up... something a little less comfortable. Well, I'll let you know how it goes. We've had three unpleasant cold baths so far, and we'll see if this helps motivate my little guy to at least take interest in the finer things in life... like potty training. He obviously doesn't like them, but he seems to understand that they are necessary (to clean him up) and that they are also avoidable. The reality is, Titus understands a lot of things at his age. And he's capable of a lot of things. He might be small, but he's an intelligent kid. His lack of being potty trained has nothing to do with him "not being ready"... it's a matter of having no motivation. So, here's to seeing if cold baths help motivate! I'll let you know how it goes!

Part of the reason I don't really care if he's taking his own initiative to be potty trained is because a box of diapers and a box of wipes at Costco cost me $60. In a day and age where everyone is doing everything they can to tighten their belts and cut down on unnecessary spending, it seems silly to throw away that kind of money on diapering a kiddo that's plenty old-enough and plenty capable of figuring out how to use the toilet. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

3 comments:

simplykersh said...

You can do it! Heidi had her fair share of cold baths, but it worked! Good luck!

SaraJane Campbell said...

You stick to it! I am a big fan of natural consequences. Way to get Leann on the ball. Love ya

Beckys blog said...

If you are willing to clean up the aftermath...just make him change himself. Tell him cleaning up his pee and poop is yucky and you don't want to do it anymore. When he has an accident, send him into the bathroom with a plastic bag for his soiled clothes and tell him if he chose not to go on the toilet, then he needs to go clean up his mess. This worked for a 3 yr old preschooler I had a few years back who didn't want to potty train because "it's ok, mommy will just give me a bath!" I'll be interested to see how the cold baths work. Remember to reward for successes too. With Titus, we started with giving him a candy just for sitting on the toilet. Then he got one for actually going on the toilet. Now he gets one if he is in the same underwear at nap time that he started the day in.