Heartless

Overheard last night as we're getting ready for bed:
"I'm so excited Liza managed to make it for one whole day without an accident while you were gone."
"Wait, you aren't counting today? She was fine until five minutes before bed. That's heartless."
"Dude, she took a huge crap in her underwear and let it fall out on the floor in front of the potty chair. I call that an accident. Besides, you don't want the fish, anyway."

Results after one week:

We only had to do the "stickers for every successful potty trip" thing for a few days, and then she sort of lost interest in the stickers. Good thing, too, because by Sunday the chart was filling up fast - she actually used the potty seven times the first day, in addition to two accidents and an extremely wet naptime. Now she's even getting blase about pooping in the potty, and she forgets to get her nails painted or get a temporary tattoo. Good thing, too, because we were running out of visible skin space ... I had to apply today's tattoo to her belly, her arms are getting that crowded.

We have successfully gone out to lunch and dinner without accidents, and we have negotiated trips to Jo-Ann's and the grocery store without problems. I am not yet brave enough to take her to locations with fountains, or to the library - both places she's had problems with during past training attempts. I think tomorrow we may try PetSmart, so she can browse through the fish to see if she can pick out a kind she wants for when she gets that seventh accident-free day.

I am developing the Potty Training Mother's Sixth Sense for Bathroom Location, which allows me to spot a likely restroom location from all the way across the store (or mall) and plot the best-fit line of how to get there in a hurry. I can say with authority that the best public place to have to deal with a potty training kid is the family restroom at Great Northern Mall, where they have not only a child-sized potty and sink, but also comfy chairs and a television showing the same crusty old cartoon over and over again, for those times when you know the kid needs to go but won't sit on the potty long enough to let it out. Plus, it's near Starbucks and the playground. Score!

I have determined that if you are holding a squirming 2-year-old and you mouth the words "potty training," you will be allowed to cut in front of pretty much any woman in line at the restroom. We'll see how well that works at the rest areas on the Pennsylvania Turnpike when we drive home for Thanksgiving.

I think I'm confident enough in Liza's progress to switch to rewards for staying clean and dry up until nap, during nap, and between nap and bedtime. I'm thinking poker chips, which can be redeemed for 5 minutes of games on the Sesame Street website. Or maybe a chart with spots for each of the rewards, and she gets a sticker AND a poker chip. We'll have to see whether she understands the whole "trade poker chip for games" concept ... if not, I guess there's always M&Ms!