The Potty Training Chronicles (Part 8) - Prizes

I am shocked. . . AMAZED, even.

The boy may just have gotten the hang of the whole thing.

I mentioned recently that we had been using some negative concequences. We tried several things, but what finally worked has been taking toys away for accidents; specifically #2 (which in our opinion haven't been accidents as much as a sheer act of him exerting his will). Especially prized toys like Max & Monty, race cars, trucks, tractors, really anything with wheels. Then, he could earn them back by going in the potty.

We recently added a chart to give some more tangible positive rewards. He gets a sticker for each day he was clean and dry. He also has the option of earning another sticker each day if he poops in the potty. Filling up a row (10 very hand-drawn "squares") earns a prize.

The first prize was a Lightning McQueen & Mater Puzzle. It took probably 15 to 20 days to earn it. But he did it and he was excited.

The second prize was a car wash hot wheels toy which he earned this evening. As you can tell from the dates of the above pictures, this only took 11 days. And he has already earned 1 sticker towards his 3rd (and hopefully final) prize... a bulldozer train (as he calls it).

I guess I'd better go ahead an order it, huh?

Funny, though. It's all about the prizes isn't it?

And using prizes is not a new thing in parenting.

My parents like to put up a big front and say that, "You did it beacuse you were told to and because we expected you to obey." Well, yeah, but I know there were some prizes involved for me as a kid.

Hello, my name is Donna and I was a thumb sucker.

Apparently nothing worked to get me to stop until my daddy took me to the store and showed me a new tricycle that he would buy me if I quit the thumb. And apparently, I did just that.

Cold Turkey.

And I got me a tricycle.

So, prizes aside, here's the great and really encouraging part. Saturday at the family reunion all day, he did so great. He told us every time he had to tee-tee. He told us at the DQ (oh there's a separate post) that he needed to go potty and he went in there and pooped. The last couple of nights he has come and told us he needed to poop and has gone in the potty.

It's been 4 months today since my first Potty Training Chronicles post.

4 LONG MONTHS!

Could it be?

Is it possible that the boy finally has the hang of it?

Could this be one of my last Potty Training Chronicles posts?

I'm not sure, but I'm ordering a few prizes online right now...