Potty training boot camp

Potty training boot camp began here this morning! 

I start my morning Community Bible Study again in 2 weeks (so excited!!!), and wanted the boys to be mostly ok by then, so I decided that this was the week.

We got drinks, chocolate chips, and undies.  I took all of the pillows off the couches, rolled up the area rug, brought up the basement toys, shut all the bedroom doors, and set up the 3 potties in the bathroom.  (Because I don't care who says what, I pretty much refuse to have potty seats in my kitchen/family room/dining room/basement.  In fact, as soon as they are all pretty well trained, I am tossing the potty chairs and going with just 1 potty seat for the real toilet...the chairs just kind of gross me out PLUS they take up all the space in my bathroom!) 

And then we let the fun begin. 

Our first stop was at 8, where C promptly peed.  L sat.  Z cheered on the stool.  I sat on the real toilet.  N cried and cried because he didn't get a magazine he wanted.  The crying, on top of the glass and a half of grape juice that was drunk quickly and excitedly, caused his entire breakfast to come up.  Z screams "it's on my feet!", C starts gagging, and I start cracking up trying to clean it up.  Literally laughing at the purple puke that has miraculously hit mostly his potty and the floor in front of it (and Z's feet).  And that was the bang that started us ;)

Thankfully it was not nearly as exciting as that all day long.  It was rough, though.  I had Z all morning (tried to find someone to take him but couldn't get anyone), and he just needed stuff...for example, he decided that this was the morning he wanted to paint.  So he got out all of his paints, which had dried up, and he needed  me to open them, etc, etc.  Poor thing, I did feel bad for him, he was so neglected, but seriously.  I finally pulled out a Color Wonder thing Dorothy and I had gotten a few weeks ago and let him play with it. 

Whenever I was helping Z, the kids decided to pee.  One would start peeing, so I would run them in, and as I was getting him situated, another one (or two) would pee all over.  They have not mastered emptying the entire bladder at once, either, so it would all come out in 5 trips over 25 minutes.  Times 3.  It was pretty much exhausting.  And now that I think of it, kind of a blur.  I repeated "Boys, stay dry!  Tell Mama if you have to pee!" over and over and over.  I set a timer for every 15 minutes, and if it went off and we hadn't peed all over yet, we all ran in to go sit and try to pee (it went off about 3 times total in the 5 hour morning). 

All said and done, this morning we went through 24 pairs of undies, and had 6 successes in the potty.  I was never so happy to put diapers on my kids as I was at naptime! 

This afternoon they did much better...12 successes and only 6 messes!  I think that they were getting it, along with the fact that Nate was home to help me out and deal with Z, or deal with the others if I was in the bathroom with one.  They started telling me "Peepee Mama!" and they actually followed through.  It was nice to sit with the boys in the bathroom, too, one on one.  And I started to recognize their "signs" as to when they were going to pee, so could run them in even if they didn't ask. 

I have dedicated 2 more days to being home and doing nothing but potty training.  I am hoping and praying that that is all it takes...and I think we're off to a good start.  I have no expectations for them to be dry during naptime or bedtime, so they will keep wearing diapers then until I notice that they're staying dry (although 2 kids have woken up with dry diapers at naptime several days, so we'll see). 

And one good thing about potty training this time?  When I was potty training Z I was about 8-10 weeks pregnant with the babies.  Every time he pooped in his undies, man, I lost whatever was in my stomach.  It was horrid.  Glad to not be doing that this time!

Here's to another fun tomorrow!