the great regression of 2012.

remember the time i waved the organic white flag of motherhood and half of you were probably all 'i feel ya. been there. done that.' and the other half were probably all 'i am never.having.a.baby.ever.in.my.life.and.where.is.my.birth.control.'?

anyways back to today. remember that post? when i mentioned in an exhausted and still kind of subtle way that he had pooped his pants 5 [FIVE.cinq.cinqo.] times that day? the fine print: he pooped his pants. again. that night.

and here we are. the great regression of 2012.

when your kid flies through milestones instead of taking them on with caution, you've got to be ready for a handful of backward tumbles. so of course our son would decide he'd rather drop a load in his fancy pants than drop it into his boon potty. which, by the way, has been a wicked lesson. do not. teach your kid. to poop on the potty. teach them ONLY on the actual toilet. because every. single. poop means you have to transfer the potty poop into the toilet, then totally scrub the potty out and disinfect it. and start it all over ten minutes later when all that organic goodness is ready to make it's less attractive reappearance.

what to do. what to do. when your kid keeps hiding in the corner and taking a poo.

start taking notes:

1. is it developmental or behavioural? maybe both? marcus was purely behavioural. every parent's dream come true right? he only pooped his pants when he was being saucy with his single mama. he'd keep that toddler turtlehead in, wait until i left the room for a mere 30 seconds [no exaggeration] and BAM. dropped it like it's hot.

2. do you clean the fancy pants or throw that shiz out? in this house? we are busy. we threw them out. i washed one single pair post-accident and would never do that again. i can't go into the details. but my fancy brand new front loading washing machine may never forgive me.

3. do you put them back into diapers to save the stress and cost of fancy pants? absolutely. not.
that might be just the reaction this little guy is hoping for. the 'give-in'. don't do it. if it's behavioural, try your stinking best not to let it bring out a reaction. just stay cool. [i didn't always stay cool. by number six that day i was almost in tears and begging for toilet mercy.]

4. now what? well, james and i totally tag teamed on this one. we tag team on every one really. try not to react. try to get that kid on a toilet before zero hour. go with the flow. be consistent. remind him of how proud we are when he DOES get his hot toddler buns on that toilet for a number two. do the whole nine. get those organic lollipops back out and bribe the shit out of him.

[literally.]

so far it's working. i also may or may not have unwrapped a sweet wooden/magnetic fishing game and i set it up on his potty/aka the new bathroom stool so he can fish while he simultaneously eats his rewards [jelly beans] and poops:

and the regression? it's totally on the way out. [knock on wood]. with about ten trips to and from the toilet after dinner three nights in a row, we have had no accidents since i came home from my mom-cation.

so for those of you who were all 'i feel ya. been there. done that.': thanks for the kind words and push forward. and for those of scrambling to pop two a days of your alesse? we totally love you too. plus, your day will come ;) + hopefully not in anyone's fancy pants.

-kare