This week we have embarked on potty training boot camp for Eddie. Once again we acknowledge how different teaching Eddie is then teaching our other children. For our oldest, she woke up one day at 2 ½ and decided she would no longer wear diapers. From that moment forward she was potty trained and has only had a handful of accidents since. Eddie, at 6, was showing absolutely no interest in using the bathroom. This is also true for our almost 3-yr-old, but that is another story.
This spring, we decided to devise a plan for potty training Eddie. We had to wait for school to be out to fully take it on. What it has come down to is five adults, a kitchen timer, twenty pairs of underwear, jelly bean reinforcers, endless cleaning supplies, paper towels, wipes, and a multiple page behavior plan. I really had no idea that such potty training existed. It truly is a full blown mission.
We started on Monday and have had multiple successes. He isn’t ready to venture out into the world, but every day we’ve seen progress. I’ve had people suggest that maybe Eddie wasn’t ready or they asked if I actually thought he could do it. I constantly told them, yes, he could. It is all about expectations. If we didn’t expect him to ever be out of diapers, he never would be. We try to set our expectations high, and most of the time Eddie can meet them.
I know it is easier to set low expectations because you are never disappointed. But true success really comes from setting the bar high and meeting those expectations others think are out of reach. So, here we are fully invested in staying home with Eddie until he can finally be potty trained. It might take many days and lots of supplies, but the end result is going to be SO worth it.