Overcoming challenges can make for a heavy load, but the Lane children are valiantly conquering their obstacles one step at a time.
Penny and the potty definitely have an on-again, off-again relationship. At this point, it seems that she pretty much recognizes when she has to go (she often will announce when certain things are moving along), but the connection that she should then seek out the potty isn’t quite there yet.
Mommy and I are trying to maneuver along that fine line of offering a proper push toward being potty-trained and scaring her off of the pot due to overzealousness. While you have to let nature take its course on such things, nature sometimes needs help.
So while we don’t want to be overhanded, Mommy thought of a reward system that seems to work well. Any time Penny tells us she has to go on the potty and follows through (she likes to give us false alarms because of the pleasure flushing provides), she gets to wear her princess pull-up diapers for the rest of the day, which she loves since they resemble underwear. A round of rousing applause and high-fives also follows, as does a phone call to Mommy (at Penny’s insistence, even if Mommy is merely downstairs) should she and I be finishing up the affair without Mommy around.
And whenever she tells us that her business was just conducted in her diaper, Penny hears from us in a pleasant tone that she should try to alert us prior to the act so that she can use the potty next time. She has started a game of late in which she pretends to be one of us, so we sometimes remind her that the actual Mommy and Daddy use the potty in hopes that another form of imitation will follow (and if we can stop buying her as many diapers in the process, all the better).
Repetition and patience should, over time, allow us to relieve ourselves of that issue for good. So, too, should those qualities assist us in helping Rigby master walking.
He just recently took his first two-step unassisted walk and has made steady progress in terms of getting up on his feet. The same balance needed for Penny has come in good use with Rigby.
We hold his hands and coax him to walk across the room, and Mommy has instituted a great technique whereby we hold him a couple steps away from his desired acquisition to compel him to walk toward it. He sometimes gets frustrated, but Rigby soon realizes that he controls his own destiny and takes the requisite steps.
I’ve also made an effort of late to set him on his feet when placing him on the floor as opposed to his butt. This often works in getting him to at least traverse his way across the room on his feet with the help of the furniture, but if he’s in a hurry he’ll drop down and crawl.
As with his sister, Rigby can’t be pushed too hard in getting on his feet, but we also have to gently guide him along in his development. Children have an amazing ability to suddenly attain an understanding of things, seemingly flipping a switch and getting it at a moment’s notice. We want to get Penny and Rigby there at a comfortable yet adequate pace, so we need to maintain proper perspective.
Otherwise, we might just find that we’re the ones who stepped in it.
•••
What practices or techniques do you use (or did you use) to help potty-train your children and get them to walk? Drop me a line and share your stories. I’m interested to hear, and some of your submissions just might make their way into the paper.
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