All aboard the potty train!

I have my hands a little full at the moment--potty training Sophie and Jimmy. Of course, I'm using different strategies with each of them, but there are actually several similarities.

With Sophie--I've made myself change from the disposable pull-ups to the cloth training pants. This way--I'm WAY more vigilant about asking her if she needs to go, and she can tell when she's wet. We've worked our way through the first potty chart, and I need to make her a new one. I think I'll get a prize box for her to choose from if she keeps her panties dry all day.

Of course, the smart little shit has figured out that all she has to do to get me to drop everything is to tell me she has to go. We walk into the grocery store, and she announces that she has to pee. So we truck to the back of the store, get her on the pot, and exactly 2 drops of pee come out. We finish our shopping, stand in line to pay, and right before it's our turn to check out, she announces that she has to pee again. Another trip to the bathroom. Another 2 drops of pee. The same thing goes for nap time, bed time, dinner time, breakfast time, or whenever she's doing something she doesn't want to be doing.

With Jimmy--we're using the crate training method. He doesn't love the crate, but is doing better. He's confined to the crate, the kitchen, and the back yard. So far, we've only had a couple of accidents and he's starting to get the hang of things. Unfortunately, he uses his potty trips to seek out every disgusting thing that has been hiding in my back yard--and then eat it. His favorite vile back yard treats so far are fossilized cat shit and decrepit dead bird.

With both, I find myself asking several times a day, "Do you need to potty?" I also find myself celebrating successful potty trips either to the back yard or the bathroom by saying, "Woo hoo! Good potty!" Sophie and I have a potty song we sing--which I skip with Jimmy. He prefers a liver treat.

I'm HOPING to have both of them successfully potty trained by the time I go back to school. That day is fast approaching, no matter how I avoid looking at calendars and ignore the back to school signs and sales all over town. This has been a truly lovely summer. I hate to see it slipping away.

Today's best thing about being a mom:
Janzen has been here for a week, and will be here for another. Yesterday I bought him this cheap fedora like hat at the dollar store. He's such a funny kid; he absolutely LOVES it. We were driving home from the store later, and I was listing all of the things I had accomplished that day. He said, "Plus, you bought me a $5.00 hat that makes me look like a genius!"

Today's worst thing about being a mom:
Sophie is torn between euphoria and intense jealousy for Jimmy. She is taking the "if you can't beat them, join them" approach and is literally peeing on the lawn, and demanding her drinks in bowls so she can lap them up.