Potty Training

          Potty Training!  I remember the struggle of trying to potty train my son, Buck.  I can remember pulling up to his preschool day after day and seeing him standing there sweetly smiling, holding a plastic bag that contained his soiled big boy underpants.  I started worrying that I might still be working on potty training him in middle school. 

          Watching my daughter, Jodi, work on potty training with her son, Ryder, has been interesting.   I noticed that the sticker chart wasn't working, the M & M’s weren't working, nor was the poopy dance.          

          Jodi came up with a wonderful idea for anyone having trouble getting their little one to cooperate with potty training.  The “Poop Fairy”!  Think of the Tooth Fairy……only this magical fairy leaves little gifts under the child’s pillow if he or she has success on the potty!          

          Jodi used matchbox cars (from a garage sale), gum, candy, etc.  Sometimes she would resort to using one gummy bear from a pack.  You could even purchase a specific toy that involves many pieces and put one under the pillow each time there is success.  If you think a treat for each success is overkill, you could use the sticker chart, and after x number of successes, then the fairy leaves a gift under the pillow.

          There are a lot of verses in the Bible that speak to parenting, like, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he shall not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6); however, I sure could have used a few verses about potty training a child in the way they should go!  Unfortunately, such a potty training manual cannot be found in the scriptures.

          If you need some free potty training charts, here is a great site!

                     Free Potty Training Charts

Footnote:  My son, Buck, was eventually potty trained; hopefully he is not still wearing Masters of the Universe underwear.