Goggles, Wet Pants and Progress Charts

So, I have finally given up. All the bribing in the world has stopped working. Goodbye Jamba Juice rewards, sticker rewards on the shirt are useless, and candy is out of the question. My boys have gotten LAZY!!!

Let's start with Dylan. After Dylan showed interest in potty training at 22 months, I was determined not to give into the temptation to start. But after conversations with a few of my friends, I felt it was a good idea to strike while the iron was hot, and attempt potty training at 25 months. I gave it 1 week. I convinced myself that he would fail, and then I would be off the hook for at least another 6 months. Well, that stinker of a perfect child didn't have a single accident the entire week. So, we kept it up. After 1 month, there were only a handful of accidents and life was GREAT!! He was doing both jobs, telling me when he needed to go and only needed a Pull Up for sleeping time. I said goodbye to our diapers and was proud to say that I had 2 potty trained children!

Well that all changed about 3 months ago. Dylan became LAZY! The kid has amazing control, so he would just hold it for hours on end. By the time an accident was probably inevitable, we would be going out the door, and I would just take him on my own. Then he would hold it again up until nap time, when I would take him on my own again. He didn't have to come tell me anymore when he needed to go and started to just rely on me to take him every 3 hours or so. Well, as is the case with life, our schedules began to change and life got busy. Not to mention, I became pregnant and was out of commission for a few months. The accidents started to pour into our life (quite literally, I might add). The kid refused to tell me when he needed to go. Wet pant after wet pant and I had had enough. I started to reward him with stickers for every time he would go in the toilet, but his lazy habit was still more overpowering. Wet pants ruled over stickers on his shirt.

Now let's switch to Tyler: As most of you know, this is our stubborn child. We started swim lessons last summer and I was just happy that he was getting in the water without screaming at me. This year, I want to see PROGRESS!! So, I decided that he needed to wear goggles to help him learn to not be afraid to put his face in the water. We practiced wearing them at home and in the bath. When lessons started, I bribed him with a Jamba Juice if he would wear his goggles. No go. The next lesson, I bribed him with a special lunch to McDonald's. No go. I decided I would not let his refusal to wear the goggles get to me. He would just miss out on special treats. Well, apparently he didn't care about Jamba Juice or McDonald's. Sure, he would pout when we would go directly home after lessons, but after a few minutes, he would be happily playing with his trains forgetting the entire incident. And this really started to bug me! How was I going to get him to wear those goggles??

I know, I know - I am the last mom to use progress charts. It seems just too easy and would my kids really care about putting a sticker on a piece of paper?? I doubted the effectiveness. But, I was desperate! So, I put together 2 charts for the boys. Tyler would get 1 sticker for every time that he wore his goggles to swim class. Dylan would get 1 sticker for every time he TOLD me that he had to go the bathroom. If they made it through the entire chart, a picture of Mickey Mouse signified a trip to Disneyland with Daddy!

Well, as I figured, Tyler had no interest in the chart. 2 more lessons passed without goggles. Dylan, on the other hand, embraced the idea. At least once a day, he would tell me needed to go to the bathroom. And you know, as much as I can't stand the sibling rivalry that is present in our home, it actually has worked to encourage Tyler! He started to get jealous and wanted to see stickers on his chart. Currently, Dylan has 7 of his 12 slots filled and Tyler has 2 out of 5! I am a true believer in progress charts now! Looks like Arthur is going to have to find time in his busy life for trip to Disneyland soon!