Sticker Charts, Part Dooce

I’d have to say, it’s not a perfect reward / discipline system, but I don’t believe there is such a thing…however, the sticker charts have been easy and pretty effective for us so far.  I was worried the very 1st day when Fin bit Jack, then realized since she’d already lost her sticker, she might as well say “screw it” and just keep biting every time she got pissed.  I thought she’d cracked our system, but we seem to be back on track now (though she fell off the wagon once today).  Like I said, it’s not perfect;)

So guess whose last 3 poops have been on the potty?!  Shane’s first ever potty success was just yesterday, and it was quite exciting!  He had been trying so hard to go on the potty (we told him that was worth 5 stickers!) that it had been 2 days since he’d gone at all…so it was like twice as large.  After he labored and delivered, we cheered and everyone ran in to ooh and ahhh over its size.  We ran out to T@rget to pick out some big boy underpants for Shane.  Jack saw all the attention Shane was getting and said “maybe I could get new underpants since I pooped on the potty too,” then he added, in a melancholic tone while shaking his head in defeat, “but it wasn’t huge.”  Yes, everyone was impressed with Shane’s work.  He definitely earned those 5 stickers.

So it turns out, the secret to potty training is to just do nothing; if you wait long enough, eventually kids just potty train themselves and it’s totally stress-free that way.  For some (Fin) it happens by 22 months, for others (my boys) just before they turn 3.  As I tweeted, it’s one of those times when parenting can coexist with laziness.  A beautiful thing.  So the end of diapers is FINALLY in sight…until December.  I can’t believe we’re starting all over again!

So speaking of Shanie, we had a little family birthday celebration for him tonight (a few weeks early, but wanted to do it before I fall into the blackhole of residency…orientation starts tomorrow).  He got a basketball hoop, which we knew would be a huge hit.  He’s been obsessed with basketball for awhile (so random considering we’ve never exposed him to it).  He was adorable and SO SO happy with his little gift.  We let him take his basketball to bed tonight, so he’s up there snuggling with it right now.

I’m off to bed, but before you head there too, please visit Nicki’s blog!!  She’s running a SkinnyKidz giveaway right now, plus she wrote the best product review ever.  And don’t forget we’re having our Independence Day sale at SkinnyKidz right now and offering a super cute 4th of July belt, along with 2 other prints, for 25% off.  You have to order by June 28th to get them in time for July 4th, so hurry!