Potty Training........

Here I am at 66 and I am potty training my child. Yes he is my child now. Tristen is 2 1/2, he will be 3 in September. We want to get him in preschool for two days a week beginning in September. He has to be trained by then and so we have officially launched into the real deal. ( For those who do not normally follow, Tristen is my great grandson) ......... we have tried on and off to train him but he was not ready. He learned to "pee" in the potty but was just not into it. When he decided he wanted to take it on he went right for the "big potty". We bought him a nice little one but he would only carry it around and play with it. Useless. So since I went ahead and enrolled him in preschool I went out and bought him some really cool undies. Then Vicki brought me a whole bunch of Tobins that he had grown out of, small ones. Tristen was thrilled with those and wanted to wear them........ so we made that descision and just put him in underwear. We had tried pull ups. What a pain they are. When they have an accident well, its a mess and just not worth the effort. He does wear one at night. So here we are about two weeks into the training period and he is doing so well. He only peed in his pants a couple of times when outside and forgot. That's no big deal. He did pee out the door one time and used the dogs piddle pads on another occasion but what could I say?. I just directed him to the correct location. He decided on his own that he would poop in the big pottie in our room. He gets a prize each time he is successful. He tries very hard. At first he was a little confused and didn't seem to know when he needed to go. As he was wearing the older undies I just threw them away when he soiled them. He didn't like that and has been more careful. Gerry found a little video on potty training. He was enthralled with it. I have not seen it but watched him watching it. It talked about his body and what did what. It made sense to him I guess because he has not looked back. He had one accident but has so far realized when he needed to go and has gone. He wants my husband to go with him at this point and Gerry is very patient and goes with him and waits with him. He likes the company I think because he had me go with him when Gerry was not here. Well who would have thought this would be the highlight of my day when a little boy poops and we have a lot of high fives and cheers and claps. There you are, life is strange. When my children were small I remember telling Jason he was a big boy now and didn't need a diaper. He said "OK" and that was the end of it. He never had an accident. Justin wanted to be like his brother and followed along soon after. Mind you, I did get a few phone calls around that time. My neighbour called to tell me the two little boys were peeing up the side of my garage. It must be a boy thing? I am sure Tristen will soon be watering my garden if I don't watch out. We make the potty training more complicated than it is. Be sure the child knows what you are talking about. Once he/she understands then its a go..........don't bother with pull ups. Set aside a week that you can be with the child and watch them. Put on underwear and no pants and just wait. Accidents will happen and that's how they learn. They wont like it, the feeling of being wet and uncomfortable. Don't yell, don't get mad encourage them to go to the toilet every time you think of it. Forget a potty, go for the big one haha. Keep reminding them to go and pee. Each child is different but once they understand they will be happy to be clean and dry and will cooperate once they get the hang. That first week life will revolve around the bathroom. Once they understand and know when they want to go then its time to move on.