Potty Time Ponderings

I kept hearing stories of how hard it is to Potty Train boys. So many books I read said boys train later than girls and that starting too early could set them back, etc. As my boys second birthday approached I started hearing advice and stories about potty training from everyone. My mom, aka Stregga, said I should start introducing the potty around 18 months . So we bought a little one that looks like a real toilet and has its own fake toilet paper and flusher. It even plays music. The boys thought it was great, they sat on it and played music and danced to the tune that we call "The Poop Song." No one wanted to pee or poop on it though.

Over the summer a couple months before their 2nd birthday I was going to put in effort to train them. But, my mother in law, aka Grandma, said it was too soon. She taught preschool for 27 years and had 3 sons of her own. She said they need to understand being wet and dry etc. And she reminded me that once they were training I would have to find every public restroom out there in the world. UGH!! That didn't sound like fun. So I happily put it off. Even SuperNanny Jo Frost said in her book that 2 1/2 is optimal, I had plenty of time.

So I had a plan that in January after the holidays I would start the training/teaching of The Potty. For Christmas I bought a new plain potty chair without music, underwear, and books. Once the hussle of and bussle of holiday craziness was over I would beging the process.

Well Cenzo had other ideas. His plan was to start training himself 3 days before Christmas. So in the middle of holiday shopping, wrapping and last minute baking Cenzo thought the bathroom seemed like a fun place to spend most of the day!


The first day the poor little guy was so constipated (a first for him) and for some reason this sparked his mind to think of the toilet. He had himself convinced that he must all of a sudden use the potty. So for hours he ran back and forth to bathroom. But, try as he did nothing came of it. He was screaming and crying and pushing but to no avail. I kept giving him fruit juice and was (not so secretly) hoping he would just go in his diaper.

The next day he woke up and exclaimed "Potty now!" And so it began all over again. Luckily Godfather showed up mid-morning with an early Christmas gift-a power wheel car they could drive! So we took a break form the excruciating scen in the bathroom to play with the new car. That must have relaxed Cenzo's mind as well as other things because he ran to the bathroom and sat on his potty and exclaimed "a giant poopy Mama!" There was rejoicing like nobody's business. We screamed and clapped and carried on. And then we flushed that giant poop down the toilet and bid it farewell. He ran off to play with his new car and has been potty training ever since.

We carried the potty with us through the holidays to all of the Christmas parties. When Cenzo took off to the bathroom during Christmas Eve dinner at Grandma's everyone in the dining room was close enough to hear him crying and fighting to get out more poop. And when he met with success the family cheered and Uncle Richie sang a beautiful rendition of "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing." It was a beautiful holiday!

As we have moved into the New Year, potty training has progressed. Since we made some calls to Santa from Cenzo's imaginary cellphone, he knew to deliver underpants with Mickey Mouse and Cars on them. So Cenzo has been proudly wearing those underpants for most of the day with very few accidents. And the pooping has gotten much easier (thanks to laxative, fruit juice and a round of antibiotics for an ear infection!)

So, in spite of my apathy and laziness, my two year old has potty trained himself and he is now working on training his twin brother. His brother by the way is his best audience during potty time. Cenzo always makes sure to call out "Luccio listen" right before lets out any toots or pee!! And of course, Luccio listens and claps, overjoyed at his Cenzo's magical powers!!!