Relativity

So the poop thing is going really well. Really well. Much better than I could have imagined. However, the stress of it, or at least what I think is the stress of it, is making itself known. It could be that bubs is sensitive to all the changes going on in his little life right now. He is practicing for preschool graduation, he knows he is leaving his aba school and he knows that kindy is around the corner. Add that to the fact that his aba school is riding him a little hard these days, in prep for the changes, thrown in with the potty changes and I think we have a stressed out little child. It's been a tough week for us.

Our conversations go a little like this.... bubs: 'can I have shark bites' (aka 'fruit snacks, aka cavity inducing, hf corn syrup, red dye #40 crap for breakfast)....me:'no, not for breakfast, you can have...(insert list of wonderful choices here)'....bubs: 'YES, I SAID SHARK BITES...growling, yelling screaming....'. This is pretty much how every interaction between us went, and you can add in some more rudeness, on his part, and a little hitting and scratching thrown in for good measure. We don't spank around here, and I never really did the time out thing. I find myself staring blankly at the little dictator wondering what Supernanny would do. Funny, I used to watch that show and look at those poor, weak, parents and think, 'ha, they need a behavioral support plan'...and yeah, I would think I was superior because my kid never behaved like their monsters. 'Ha, they need a naughty chair, we don't need a naughty chair... We have planned ignoring', I presumed. Well, planned ignoring, where are you now?

Granted, the fact that we are even having these headbutting sessions are amazing. From what I hear, this is somewhat typical. The mental sparring going on here is certainly taxing, but I guess taxing in a good way. My husband thinks that you can reason with a tantruming almost five year old. I love when he comes home while I am attempting to wash bubs' hair. I am covered in water, and muttering to myself while bubs is in the tub crying. He had the nerve to tell me, 'Just tell him he can't do that'. Wow, that's a great idea, I think I'll try that next time.

The eagle has landed

Yesterday at approximately 7:15 last night, my son, my wonderful son made his first official poop on the potty. It was glorious. I knew it was weighing heavy on his mind the last few days. He had been having conversations with people at school and casually asking them if they sat on the potty to poop. Luckily the adults in his life know what is going on with him so they were able to discuss this with him with understanding. He was unusually quiet as well. I know my boy was worried, I was a little worried myself. What if it didn't come out? See I told you I had issues.

So he started asking for the pull up last night and I knew that we had reached our moment. My husband and I started scrambling for things to help with the process. He got the tub of legos which would be our makeshift footstool. I got the portable dvd player. We were buckling down for a long event. Those things in place, the actual process was quite quick. Bubs was so incredibly proud of himself and he was actually surprised how 'not bad' it was. He also wanted to go and get his oft promised reinforcer at toys r us. So, at 7:30 at night (a half hour after projected get in bed for a story time) we got in the car and went to the toy store.

This morning, I was a little alarmed when bubs asked for a pull up again. Uh oh, I thought. But you know what, he went again, and this time it was even less painless than last night. A little grumbling, a little whining but fairly easy. He did ask for another toy, but I had to explain to him that not every poop gets a toy. It's the first one that is really special.

Somehow, this was not what I expected, and I mean that in a good way.

Poop, the final frontier

Besides locking myself up in a room and trying my hardest to sew in a straight line (and failing), we have been busy trying to get my son to take a dump on the toilet. It's my own fault and it probably stems to some incident waaaaay back in my childhood, but we have been putting this off way longer than we should have. By we, I mean me.
My son aced the whole pee pee on the potty business. It was a fairly painless event, which involved lots of data taking, jelly beans, 8 extra pairs of sweatpants and undies and some waterproof sandals. Because my son takes after me in the anal retentiveness area, he never poops in public, so it really hasn't been too bad with the pull ups. We like to do our dirty work in the privacy of our own homes around here.
I think though, when you are at the point that you are able to remove all of your own clothes, go to the closet, and take out your own pull up and proceed to put it on, well... it is probably long past the point that you probably need that said pull up. Bubs is leaving his aba school in a few weeks, they are really chomping at the bit to get this poopie issue straightened out. I really have problems and now I am transferring them to my son. I really thought he would just wake up one day and say, 'hey mom, I am going to poop in the toilet from now on'. I really did think that. I also have forgotten about the trips to toys r us, where I did my best vanna white impression and gestured to the plethora of goodness awaiting him once that poop was flushed. I forgot about the countless hours I sat with bubs while I tearfully forced him to sit on the bowl while I sang an hour long rendition of old mac donald had a farm. I forgot about the fact that my son told me he was never going to poop on the potty (and that was fairly recent).
So last week, I told him that we had some pull ups left and that when they ran out we would not be getting anymore. I asked him if he knew just what that meant and he replied 'it means I have to go on the potty'. So yes, he understands. On Monday afternoon, we used the last pull up. I haven't said much, again, the hope, the denial, it never gets old for me. He asked for a pull up this morning and I reminded him of the situation, but he wasn't taking the bait.
So now it's a waiting game. It has to come out, right? It will come out? In the appropriate place?