We have one rule in our house. (Actually, we have as many as two or three rules.) And the rule is that everyone needs to try to pee before we get in the car to go somewhere.
Everyone follows this rule. Crappy Papa and I included. It just makes sense.
Crappy Baby has been potty trained for many months now. We don’t praise him for peeing anymore. Pooping is no longer high five worthy.
It is just a normal part of his life now.
However, he hates, hates, hates this “pee before you leave” rule.
I explain that we are about to leave to go somewhere fun but he has to try to pee before we leave.
He won’t.
So I try something fun:
Fail. (Hey, it works for brushing teeth, it was worth a shot.)
Crappy Papa steps in and pulls something from logic 101 with him:
You know, the whole “if this then that” classic conditional. If you pee then we can go to fun place.
Doesn’t work. Maybe he needs a visual. We’ll draw a truth table next time.
I try again, reminding him that he doesn’t actually have to pee. He just needs to try. This will take the pressure off.
Still nothing.
We’re kinda stuck.
Suddenly, Crappy Boy pipes up:
And they run off to the bathroom.
Crappy Papa and I stand there, flabbergasted.
Crappy Boy helped us.
And this? High five worthy.
————–
This might be my first ever time initiating a sincere high five to another adult. Like, in a non-ironic way. I’m just not the type. You know, the boisterous, high-energy, gym coach type. The type that goes to a bar and gets three rounds of shots for everyone and has a silly nickname. Those people are fun. (Also exhausting and sometimes annoying. But fun.)
For all the high five enthusiasts who are now wondering what on earth I do when I’m super excited and happy, I clap. Yes, I clap my hands. Fast. Which is basically like the introverted version of a high five. I’m just high-fiving myself repeatedly.
Ha ha! Ohh! That’s just brilliant!
I will, without a doubt, be trying this tonight. YES to having older siblings to work with! Weee!!
“high-fiving myself repeatedly” …. I love it! Thanks for the laugh!
I too, lol’d at this…because well…I do it too, hahaha!
I totally do this too LOL
Yes! Add me to the “clapping when excited” category.
I too am in this category!! lol and sadly my 3 year old daughter has caught on to this trait : )
yeah, that part made me laugh the hardest! ha!!
Hahaha! Awesome!
This.
I love this. I’m not a chest-bumping sort of person, either, but if I could do it the introverted way…
…well, turns out it looks like I’m trying to sexually violate a wall. But then again, if there’s no one else around, and I’ve just, like, beaten my high score on Tetris, who cares what it looks like, right?
I’m going to spend at least 45 more minutes thinking of introverted analogs to the interactions that more boisterous and fun/annoying people perform. Cheers,
Tears streaming down my face right now! High-fiving yourself, funniest thing ever! I do it too.
I have this rule too, and it’s always the youngest who doesn’t want to go, regardless of age! I made the mistake of not going earlier this week, and got stuck at the yuckiest public toilet in town, busting. Thankfully all the children needed to go, and by the time they were done, my need had passed – I made it home!
Boys will do ANYTHING if it’s a competition, this is proof! Am I the only mom who is not eager to get my kid out of diapers? Except for the occasional poosplosion I really think they might be easier!
I feel the same way… My daughter’s 3 (out of diapers recently) and although she rarely has accidents, I’m terrified of her piping up one day “I need to pee!” and us be stuck in traffic or something horrifying… Diapers were so much easier (even with poopsplosions) than tiny exploding bladders.
I have a little car potty and have had to pull to the emergency lane to let my toddler go potty in bad traffic. It works out.
I also keep a potty chair in the back of my jeep, my boys like that it can stay back there for privacy. I learned a little trick, put a plastic grocery bag over the removable bowl part so #2 is easier to clean up and dispose of. We don’t always have extra wipes or a waterbottle to wash it up so the bag keeps it more sanitary until we get home and thuroughly wash it.
my friend has 2 boys and keeps an empty plastic soda bottle in the car… if they need to go.. the kid attaches their ‘nozzle’ to the bottle top. and then you can just throw the bottle out! i thought it was disgusting and genius at the same time. it only works with boys though, obviously lol.
I’ve done that! We went on a cross-country road trip less than a month after my oldest trained. I got over squeamishness toward non-traditional containers really fast.
what a good idea!!
In some ways I want to get mine out of diapers, like how much they cost and the poosplosions you mentioned. But potty training just sounds so hard, lol. In a lot if situations I think it’s easier that she just goes in her diaper. I’m on my first though so maybe I just fear the unknown 😉
I’m potty training my second son right now, and I’ll tell ya, yes, diapers are easier. However, that’s just during the potty training phase. Once it’s done it is SO much easier when they can take care of their own toileting. One less thing for mom to do! At least, this is what I’m trying to remind myself while potty training child #2.
And, boys do love a competition. Any time I challenge my boys to do something quickly or to race to get A done before I finish B, they move faster than I ever thought possible!
I’m potty training my second at the moment – hmm, why did a pick the coldest time of year for this? We currently have snow blizzards in London, which is a major event, and I’m going to be having my 20 month old running round bare bottomed at home tomorrow.
But I have to say, I’m using Oh Crap Potty training, that I heard about here from Amber, and I actually feel like I know what I’m doing this time round – so thanks for making this easier.
Meanwhile the 5 year old seems to be regressing because he little brother can now wee, and has been having more accidents than normal, grrr.
But we got home from school last week (when we hald balmy mild spring weather here) and the 2 boys decided to go pee beside each other in the back garden, little boys and the bonding stuff they do!
(PS I let them pee in the garden as it keep the nasty urban foxes from using it as a toilet themselves + some nitrogen for my ignored and battered plants)
Another thing to try if Crappy Boy is up to it, have both boys have a “pee race.” My boys invented this before bath time on their own once. Even though both my older boys are potty trained, I still carry one of those baby potties in the car in case I forget to make them go before we leave.
Me too, me too! My husband begs me to get rid of it and I think he’s insane. The very day we leave that thing behind is the day there is bound to be an explosion in the backseat. How is it he doesn’t know that?
That must be a second child thing. My daughter hate the pee before you leave rule too. However, I have a small bladder so the likelihood of us having to stop and pee anyway while we are out kind of saves her. But there is still peeing before leaving! You will pee whether you like it or NOT!
I dance when super happy. Like the Chandler dance from Friends (no I’m not proud of this, it just happens). I’m not a high five gal either.
Ha! An introvert high-fiving– like the sound of one hand clapping!
My sister’s father-in-law made a secret code for my niece. He wrote it down and handed it to her. She has to use the code if leaving in the car. The code…….. PB4UGO
I love everything about this post, but the PB4UGO is genius. I’m sure it’s on a license plate somewhere…
Love that!!!
awesome.
I was in a mobility unit in the Air Force long ago. When we went on convoys, people would aquire chalk and write funny stuff on the doors of the trucks to fit that driver. Often I was the only girl, and since I have a tiny tank, I would always get PB4UGO. I am sure we looked professional rolling down the road….
I HAVE to try this. My daughter is 4 and has been potty trained for a couple years but going pee before it becomes a straight up rush to the toilet emergency is a daily struggle. She just hates to take the time to go and I have tried (almost) everything-silly girl. : )
Lol. Yup, mine are like this too. Not with peeing before we leave though but with other stuff like when I’m trying to get them ready for school. My youngest will not put her shoes on herself (she can totally do it easily, she’s 5) My eldest (who is 9) will be like “I bet I can put mine on before you. 10 seconds. GO!” I love how he makes it into a game. She’ll totally do it herself but when I make it into a game? Nope not interested.
That’s just it, kids may like games, but not when you need one to work. Mine won’t fall for a race suggested by me to get something done that needs to be done. They have a radar for that.
My method is close to this. My daughter have a race to see who can pee first. Her on the little potty and me on the big one…
My dad used to drive around our (circular) driveway three times before we left the house to go anywhere, because my mom and I always had to pee and we always forgot something. it was only partially a joke. We lived far away from EVERYTHING and there were no public restrooms. I actually think my mom trained me to need to pee when I need to pee. It backfired.
We have three girls in a short age spread. When our youngest really should have been potty trained she dug in her heels just like her sisters had. We hoped since she’s only 16 months younger than Middle Daughter that she’d pick up on it with her sister. No-go. I read every book, tried every technique. Nothing.
For Youngest, I finally devised a bribery plan that finally worked. I had a small jar and a bowl of small rocks. These were dubbed “potty pebbles”. Every time she even tried to go to the bathroom we could put one “potty pebble” in the jar. When the jar was full, ALL 3 of the girls would get a prize. I taught the basics and wiped bottoms, but it was the two older sisters who really understood prizes who got her past the finish line 😀
I LOVE it when our older boy helps the baby with something. Always feels like an accomplishment on our part.
Exactly!
Right? Isn’t that why we have a second kid?
Love it! We use the counting method for cleaning and changing into jammies or whatever too. I bet you can’t do it before I get to X number. It REALLY helps with our middle one, even though she’s only competing with herself. Sometimes she’ll tell us, I want to do it faster than last night, count for me. Hey, man, whatever works
I used to use this tactic to get my boys to do various things more quickly – get their pajamas on, shoes on, get out of the house, etc. But my youngest is very sensitive to competition and HATES to lose, so it always ended up with him in tears. Not worth it anymore. Back to asking 15,000 times. Sigh.
The counting 15,000 times sounds *so* familiar. I’ve been struggling with this the last week or so (I think major resistance to change of routine back to school after holidays) and my mum suggested I just ask twice ‘I’ve asked you once, I’m only going to ask you one more time…’, then there is a consequence (removal of one of his shoe boxes of toys!). Seems to be working – although I always find these tricks wear off after a bit of use.
Awesome big brother…. 🙂
I found out when daughter was little that counting & racing Always work! Until about age 15, then it doesn’t work anymore – you just get a look that says “really mom? Really???” lol
When I lived abroad, my Swiss friends next door always called this “Making a LuLu.” You make a Lulu (going to the bathroom right before a trip) just to be safe. Making Lulu’s is a part of life-going to the bathroom, checking a hotel room one last time before you leave, playing it safe in general is making a Lulu!
I NEVER used to high-five before having kids, but now it seems my husband and I need the mutual support and validation everytime we succeed at anything. This would be a classic case – getting help from the older sibling on something. But we do a soft – secret handshake – kind of high-five, so we don’t jinx whatever it is we’re super happy about 😉
My mom (the high fiving, high energy elementary PE teacher/Yaiyai) used the “Race” rule for everything.
Whoever can get their socks and shoes on first wins!! Race to see who can collect the most hair ties!!! The first one to finish all of their dinner picks dessert!!
She is still a ton of fun, but the “race” thing stopped working on us in middle school.
Don’t think for a second I haven’t used it on my 2.5 y/o alot already 🙂
I used to be able to use this with my two little ones, the same way my mom used it with us kids. “whoever does _____ first WINS!! My husband asked me a couple of times, in front of the kids, “What does the winner win?” Ugh. My mother-in-law asked me the same thing, also in front of the kids. Ugh. C’mon… Seriously?? Are you two freaking idiots?? Thank you for ruining the kids’ motivation for doing what they’re supposed to do!! Thanks for the parental support!! Now the whole race thing doesn’t work without the kids asking what the winner gets.
My 6 year old will take off running and yell, “The winner is a rotten egg!!!” I have told her that rotten eggs are bad and the loser should be that, but she thinks they are good, so she just keeps that up. It’s always her, so whateves….
I’m high fiving ya!
We also struggle with this one. Our daughter will not pee before going out but, always, 5 minutes after we are in the car, “I need to pee!” Ugh… We keep a travel potty in the car.
I love the drawing of Crappy Baby performing the “talk to the hand” sign as he says, “NO!”
For the first few years of their lives, I had my children convinced that the car wouldn’t start if they had not peed before take off. I also had them convinced that the car couldn’t start without all of the seat belts latched. Not that I wouldn’t start it, but that it had sensors that would not allow it to start. Unfortunately they are too old and smart for that now.
HAHAHA! That’s awesome. I will have to try that.
My mum used to do the car won’t start trick 🙂 My daughter (4) yells at us if her seatbelt isn’t done up before the car starts so we haven’t needed to use that on her…
Sigh. I am actually putting off potty training the 2 year old ’cause we have this battle with the nearly 5 year old and I don’t want to make it a squared battle.
Yes, I clap my hands. Fast. Which is basically like the introverted version of a high five. I’m just high-fiving myself repeatedly
We were on a car-trip and told all the kids to pee before we left the restaurant we were at. Our youngest (4) wouldn’t go and 10 minutes later, she said “THE PEE’S COMING OUT!” There was NO WHERE to pull over and her father told her she better hold it! Finally after she kept saying it, he pulled over on the side of the road and we made her pee there. Now when she says she doesn’t need to go, we tell her we aren’t stopping for a long time and she better try.
“For all the high five enthusiasts who are now wondering what on earth I do when I’m super excited and happy, I clap. Yes, I clap my hands. Fast. Which is basically like the introverted version of a high five. I’m just high-fiving myself repeatedly. ”
Hahahahaha, introverted version of the high five. I so do that!
When my son was being potty trained, my slightly older (but has been potty trained for awhile longer) daughter was teaching my son how to put underwear on…we were shocked!
This method worked for a while for us, and then there were melt-downs when someone lost the race. I had to give up all competition based “tricks” because it caused too much anxiety. But what I love here is that older brother came up with it! I have two girls and we now have the opposite problem of wanting to go too many times before leaving “Just a minute, I have to potty”–“Didn’t you just go?” –“Yeah”. 🙂 *sigh*….all of these things seem to “ebb and flow”.
That is exactly how we got my brother to pee before leaving the house, and it works with my oldest daughter as well.
Stinkers 🙂
I know just how awesome this is because my almost 8 year old can get my 3 1/2 year old son and 5 year old nephew to do just about anything! It’s not always a good thing, but nice to have him in my back pocket when I’m put of ideas.
Yay for crappy boy 🙂 my 2 are so competitve and my daughter is so obsessed with her older brother that i frequently ‘use’ him to get her to do something like ‘wow, look how well jacob is eating, brushing his teeth, tidying.’ It’s great and has saved me many times however my 2 year old has an iron bladder and though she’s only been trained a few months she’s never had an accident out and can hold it all day. If she wants – or can’t find a toilet hse likes. My son on the other hand often has to pee every 10 minutes and is 5 🙂
Oh man, mine too! She pees like once a day. When she was in daycare they tried to tell me she “wasn’t potty trained” because she wouldn’t go when the other kids did. “Um, ok. Is she having accidents?” “No”. Then what’s your problem? I wouldn’t want to pee in a communal toilet either!
We used to do something similar, although we only have 1. We threaten that we will go first, and “might stink it up!” Then start slowly walking toward the bathroom… Still works sometimes at 5.
I come from a country where people don’t high five and still feel like an idiot when I have to. I remember when my now-husband then-boyfriend wanted to high five me for the first time, it concerned me so much I found myself considering if it wouldn’t be for the best to just go our separate ways. Luckily, he agreed not to do it again and everything else turned out to work great between us 😉
Ha! Love the “no high five” agreement in a relationship.
My daughter does the same thing! But fortunately I’ve discovered she has a bladder of steel, so I just go with it. She can hold it longer than I can. If she really has to go, she’ll change her mind mid-conversation. She does this about lots of topics, not just pee. She just likes to be contrary, I guess.
Me, calmly: “Do you have to pee before we leave?”
Her, in a panic: “Noooooooo, I don’t WANT to pee!!”
Me: “Okay, let’s go.”
Her: “Yes, I DO want to pee!”
…sigh!
I’m wondering what kind of mess does peeing like a Monkey create?
Not sure. Probably best that he didn’t go for it, right?
haha! I thought the exact same thing!
I like these “make it a game” ideas. I may use this when I’m not too tired or lazy for these tactics. When I’m feeling lazy and not like putting in the effort to be a good Mom, though, my favorite tactic is the “fine. You can stay home alone, bye.” I then pretend to write my child off and put on my shoes. She flips. And promptly goes to the bathroom.
As for getting her to wash her hands, though, that’s another story. Ha.
I have the opposite problem. My stepdaughter washes her hands FOR-EVER. It’s impossible to get out the door because she’s spending so much time washing her hands! I mean cleanliness is one thing but really. And I don’t think she has OCD, she’s just slow at hand washing.
another gray overcast day..and yet there you are again with your ray of Crappy humor to drive away the gloom. high five !
We went through this for the longest time with my son, until I discovered the same trick!! With my son, we race to the potty….all I have to say is “on your mark…” and he takes off running!!!
Hahah oh my gosh I love this post! I love the picture of Crappy Baby holding his hand up to say “no” and the way Crappy Boy is looking up at you in the second picture. Hilarious.
And I laughed so hard at the high-fiving yourself repeatedly. I am jealous and totally want to try being a self high-fiver.
Parenting WIN!!!!! High tens might even have been in order, and your ‘post script’ had me laughing even harder than the great stuff before. Thanks!!!! 🙂
Oh dear, I don’t think I’ve EVER done a high ten. Would have to be something huge and I’d probably have to be tipsy too.
Great big brothering!!! My oldest (just turned 5) does things to help us out like this too. <3
"Show Mommy, who can fill their basket (clean-up) the fastest!" is the most fantastic game ever also, bahaha!
Yay for crappy boy!
and yay for introvert high fives! I do that all the time
I use “time to go pee, do you wanna pee on the tree or the toilet”
Tree usually wins
Yes, we are “that family” in the neighborhood….
I understand the “high-five” thing…. we are more “fist bump” people.
That. is. awesome.
I thought that was my son you were talking about;) But on a serious note my 3 year old takes his 6 year old sister way more serious sometimes. There have been times that I have asked her to ask him to do something…it works!
When my youngest refuses to go ( and I know she has to), I let her choose which potty she wants to use. It makes her feel like she’s in charge, which is pretty much her life mission.
This was remarkable reading for me, because it wasn’t my children who didn’t want to pee before leaving home, but me, as a kid, almost 50 years ago. Why? I have no idea, but there was something completely horrifying about peeing on demand. Was it humiliating or did I hate my parents trying to control my bodily functions? It went on for years. Now it seems absurd, but you awakened a very strong memory in me.
Is it just me or did suddenly Crappy Boy look like he grew an inch or two when he did the Big Brother thing??
We let them pee outside before they get in the car. That’s a good motivator (for my boys at least).
Traveling alone with three small children under 5 I discovered my everlasting mantra: A happy bladder is an empty bladder. Now in college my kids still remember.
Love that mantra!
http://www.traveljohnjr.com/
Invest in these they change the game!!!
Yesterday we went to the park. The 1 month old dictated when it was time to go, but the 2 year old did not want to leave yet. The 5 year old recognizes the baby comes first, and we HAD to leave, the baby was crying (and this upsets big sister very very much…) She looked at her little brother and said “Let’s exercise all the way to the car! We’ll race!” And off they went. Once the park was out of sight, my son was willing to get in the car and say bye to everything… so it worked. It’s the first time in a few months I’ve been able to get him to leave a park without a tantrum… me like!
In my house we call the act of peeing before we leave the house “a psychological” even if we don’t *need* to pee, the act of going is just something you have to do to make yourself feel prepped before you leave the house.
I say, “let’s just try to get a couple of drops out” That has had a high success rate.
High five yourself?! (Giggle). I found myself alone in the car the other day and was so excited that I got to my exit before the heavy traffic that I started fast-clapping and singing “exit, exit, exit!” Then I realized I had no children in the car to entertain….awkward self moment. Sigh. Being a Mom brings out the best awkward moments.
I LOVE this story. 🙂
When my nephew refuses to try to go pee my brother tells him “let’s just go look at the toilet. ” As soon as he sees the potty he’s ready to go. Works every time.
That is a good one. Might have to try it.
This is my 5yo…he hates to try…but the minute I say “Let’s race! I bet you can’t beat me!” He’s off like a shot and wow! Amazingly he wins EVERY time!!
My oldest (6) has mastered the art of “fake crying at losing” while taking his brother, 3, to the bathroom. Since everything in our house is geared toward who’s first, older son will shout, Okay, I’ll go first while slow-mo running to the bathroom. This makes younger brother dash off like Flash and the work is done. 🙂 Yay for older siblings and the laughs you provide!
Was it only me who thought “go to fun place” was a Yoda-like command to find strength and purpose from deep within in order to summon the will to wee?
Not sure, but that is awesome.
No, you weren’t. I found it a bit obscure and wondered what crappy Baby made of it.
I say “we’re gonna go to a fun place” alot. I dont want to tell them where we are going but I want them to know its not the grocery store. 🙂
My mum used to count to get me to do everything…. if she asked me to do something and I didn’t want to she would reply – I’ll count and I would zoom off eager to become the winner of my one man race!
I have always had the “pee before you leave” rule….because I was raised with that rule! Now my family makes fun of me because I will not leave the house unless I go to the bathroom!
Talk to the hand mama. Hysterical!
The philosophy degree holder in me LOL’ed at “truth table”.
Glad someone caught that.
My crappy boy has been helping with our crappy baby a lot too recently! (Nearly 6 and 4 respectively). It has really been helpful although sometimes our little man gets out of doing his chores because his older brother will do them to avoid me using my “mom” voice.
With a house full of little boys (well I guess just 3 but trust me that feels like a house FULL) the “pick which potty you want to pee in” works a lot and tragically I have actually encouraged the “can you pee in the same potty at the same time” just to get out of the house!
My current 3yo has had accidents right in front of the toilet while arguing about which one to use. He is driving me crazy.
That is too cute! What an awesome big brother!
This is awesome. Plus, I’m not a high-fiver either. I feel like a dork when I’m called on to do it with someone else, and I usually do something dumb like half-miss their hand, or don’t hit hard enough so it doesn’t make that satisfying slapping sound.
P.S. My 23-m-o has been potty trained for a month now..thanks for the link to “Oh Crap!”, Amber! I love Jamie and her approach.
My cousin told me if you always aim for the other person’s elbow, you will never miss on the high five. : )
If both high-fivers LOOK at the other persons elbow, you’ll never miss. And it will make the slap sound since you are not worried about aim, you can nail them. LOL, it really works!
I’m trying to think of what I do when I’m really excited, and I don’t know. I may have to ask my husband when he gets home, because now I’m kind of curious.
Everything is a race in this house. Everything. We race to see who can put on shoes fastest. Who can pee fastest, who can finish their breakfast, brush their teeth, clean their room, drink their milk … and that’s without the kids. Seriously though, racing is the most awesome get-this-crap-done-so-we-can-leave game … boys love it. My son races me every morning to see if he can brush his teeth and get dressed in the time it takes me to dry and curl my hair. Most of the time he goes the extra mile and also puts his shoes on, and then shows up in the bathroom door trying to rub it in my face that he is “WAY FASTER” than me … it’s awesome. I act all defeated and upset too … going on a year now, and it still works.
There is a personalized license plate driving around in WA that says PB4WEGO . Maybe you should get this is your state-unless of course you live in Washington and you already have. Then maybe you can tell Crappy Baby that it is the car’s rule and not yours?
I’m presuming by “WA” you mean Washington State? I’m in another WA – Western Australia – and it’s the world capital of personalised licence plates. Usually they are boring like “Shazzaz” (ie the car is Sharon’s, often abbreviated in Australia to Shazza and then someone got Shazzas, so they has to settle for the less common “Shazzaz”). All of which is a long way to explain they are NOWHERE near as creative as THAT!
There used to be an acid green VW BUG in my neighborhood…license plate WASABI. Made me giggle every time.
This just happened to us today! My crappy baby was yelling non-stop for no discernible reason. My husband and I were trying everything we could to get her to stop. Then my 5 yr old stepped in holding crappy baby’s baby doll, handed it to her, and the tears magically stopped! We were stunned into silence. Definitely high-five-worthy!
In our house it’s called a pee race and we have to use it OFTEN to get our child to pee.
race. wins. ever. time. and I HATE the high 5! Glad I am not the only one!
LOL! I love the little lines illustrating the high five.
My 4 yr old daughter is in the “helping” stage and NEVER wants to pee before we leave. I always say “well mommy needs your help”. Then while in there she suddenly has to go!!!!
Now, how to get the husband to pee before we go….. haven’t mastered that trick yet…
I appreciate how Crappy Baby is potty trained, but still wears a cloth diaper in the images. My youngest is potty training, and cloth diapers has sort of become part of my identity after 4 years straight of washing. I wouldn’t want to let that go, either.
Elizabeth, are you serious about washing diapers being part of your identity? I just potty-trained my 23-m-o and the HARDEST part was me letting go of the darn cloth diapers! I love them, they’re colorful, cute, it felt like a caring thing to do wrapping her little bum in those.
I love love love reading your blog! High fiving yourself is genius! way to escape others contact germs. Now, I have a socially appropriate way to avoid doing high five with others. 😀
If I’m very excited (and not concentrating on who’s around me), I revert to bouncing up and down with associated clapping or hand flapping. Luckily, I usually only do it when no one is watching. Or just my partner, who thinks I’m crazy but doesn’t mind too much.
Things that are likely to induce me to jump up and down – seeing the sea, the start of a great firework show (esp if I helped set it up), going on holiday.
I’m 30…
I started thinking my kids just LIKED going to the bathroom at Costco. Because they sure seemed to stock up so they could visit every time.
First of all, I love your posts, and I refer all my friends! Secondly, I just wanted to share that the way I used to get my youngest son (now 7) to try to go pee before we left the house was to tell him, “You don’t have to pee, but you have to stand at the toilet and count to 10 (with his pants down, and with ME counting, in case there is any confusion). I would turn the sink water on (a key factor) and count slowly (also key). 100% of the time, he’d start peeing by the time I got to 7. He thought it was funny, so that became a sort of competition in and of itself. Hope this helps someone. 🙂 Keep rockin’ the blog, mama!
We had that rule too, when I was little. I was the stubborn middle child, and I refused to pee on command. (Or do pretty much anything on command…) My mom tells the story of how I sat on the toilet screaming and crying for an hour, clenching because even though I did have to pee, I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction. They finally called a babysitter and went to lunch without me. Man, I was a terror. I’m sure she’ll get the last laugh when I have a terror of my own. (We just started trying a few months ago.)
Oh man, I can see my 5yo doing that a couple of years ago. I’m glad she never did, but everything else was a battle of wills.
I use the competition thing with my almost 4 year old. He is adamently refusing to take a bath. I say, “If I beat you up the stairs you don’t get bubbles in your bath. If you win, you get bubbles.” He races for the stairs and does the victory dance for getting bubbles. I try not to do the victory dance for getting him upstairs without having to carry him. 😉 Also works for bedtime, “I bet I can beat you up the stairs.” Thank goodness for boys and their competitve spirit. I’m dreading the day he figures out what I’m up to. lol
You are so cute. 🙂
We had that rule too, and now in my 30’s, I still follow it. Except, now it seems when we’re rushing out the door (to the store a block away or an extended road trip) I’m always the last one in the car while the hubs and kids are already in the car – why? Because I’ll suddenly remember I didn’t pee yet and have to run back inside for fear I’ll have to go in 5 minutes. (I also have a small bladder, so the kids are off the hook for having to go an hour down the road, b/c usually it’s me asking for the nearest restroom).
We had that rule when I was a kid and pregnancy taught me to reinstate it… Now my son is 6, he’s delighted to block me by going to the one I planned to use 😉 so one way or another, he “goes” before we go out!
I had never done a high-5 in my life before having children (it’s not so popular here in the UK anyway). Then, as when we leaving Santa’s Grotto, Father Christmas wanted to give my son (aged 1 and a bit) a high-5 on his way out! I couldn’t believe it! It would never have happened in my day…!!!
My hubby and I have been known to high 5. We are both sports lovers and very silly…so yeah. If I am by myself though, I do the fist pull (hard to discribe), I like pull my elbow back down near my waist, I suppose the hip is involved too. If I am very excited I use both arms, I guess in that case its a pelvic thrust??? Wow, this is just sounding bad….it’s not – it’s bad ass! LOL!
My oldest hates going to pee before leaving also. Whenever we’re at my parents’ house and we want him to go, my dad will say: “I’m going to win” and race him to the bathroom. Works every time.
One of my son’s favourite games: Favourite. He designates whom he will listen to and obey.
How do I know it’s a game? Because I did it too, using my older sister to undermine my mum’s authority over me. This game started when I was very young, probably 3 or 4. And continued until I was about 13-15.
I call it a game, as I remember I was quite surprised at at the time when my mum gave in so easily and tasked my sister to command me. Now, I know she was just too damned tired: 3 kids, and helping to run a business, and in-law issues.
you’re singin’ my song…we (boys age 5 and 3) ALWAYS ‘tinkle before we travel’. the list can be endless at time on how to motivate my 3 year old to consistently do it without a resist. anything my 5 year old offers up is accepted like a prize.
My nearly-four-year-old daughter has taken to teaching/motivating/dealing with our tantrummy two-year-old. I’m so proud it hurts, especially when she is a better parent than I am.
I also wanted to add: I’m sure you receive hundreds of these but I have nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blogger award. Your blog has kept me laughing and sane through the early years of motherhood. Thank you!
With three older sibs, my youngest has not only had plenty of sib-parenting, but sometimes a task gets passed around – well, mom wasn’t a go, Oldest, coax – fail; Second, compete – fail; Third, whine (yes, her talent is to whine at him that he is causing x y or z problem – and for some reason, it often works!). If it’s still a fail at that point, that’s when it goes back to parents as a discipline issue (and that assumes all three elders chose to participate – as it’s generally optional, all three usually only happens when youngest is holding up something GOOD).
I think the most successful single tactic for getting him to pee, though, was hubby’s Ghostbuster’s-inspired notion… “I’m going pee, ratboy, you want to cross streams with me?” almost always had them peeing within 60 seconds. Peeing outside and racing were good, but nothing beat crossing the streams.
Someone mentioned handwashing… we were having problems with wiping and flushing, which started a new rule. Going potty has 3 to 4 steps (darn boys for making it complicated!); if he skipped any step, he had to start over.
> Potty
> Wipe if necessary
> Flush
> Wash Hands
Since he was pottying on a schedule (due to frequent accidents in 1st grade), the first step lasted until he produced, or 5 minutes passed. So if he peed, washed his hands and left the bathroom, that meant that he had to flush, then start over – go sit on toilet for 5 minutes, flush again, wash hands again, THEN he could get back to whatever he was doing. Really cut back on how often he forgot to flush, or wash his hands.
I’ve gotta warn you, we had our son race to the toilet as an incentive to pee for a couple years, until one day I decided to see what would happen if I beat him. He spit on me in rage! It’s a shame we had to stop doing it, it always worked…