Monday, November 17, 2008

pooping for candy

For awhile Frances was all about sitting on the potty. I think it was the novelty of it--being like mommy and daddy, the pull-ups, the good times. She was particularly excited about the full-size toilet and preferred that to the little potty in the family room. Then a few weeks ago she suddenly decided she was done with that. She no longer wanted to sit on the toilet, didn't fall pray to any suggestion that it would make her a big girl.

Until we resorted to candy.

I'm not above a bribe, and a candy reward, it turns out, is very effective with the girl. At first it was M&Ms, and when we ran out of those I dug out some jellybeans, and now we've moved on to gummy bears. She's not picky. She's so excited about getting candy that she sits on her little potty several times a day. She now can pull off her pants and diaper by herself which is particularly helpful since I often have my hands full feeding or changing or carting around the baby. She'll sit on the potty even when she doesn't have to go, and she's pretty persistent about her success. Even when there's no action at all she'll sit and sit and sit, saying "I poop! I poop--then candy." She gets up, bends over to peer in the potty, then sits back down again. I say, "Are you finished?" and she says, "No. No. Poop, then candy!" She's very optimistic. It's a good trait to have, I suppose.

1 comment:

Paige said...

I love it! She is so funny. And persistence is an awesome character trait to have.