Hey Look Mom

An enthusiastic Davey climbed out of his booster seat yesterday and ran to the bottom of the stairs that lead up to our home. I had just confirmed that yes, we were indeed having hot dogs for lunch, and he was psyched.

He paused at the bottom of the stairs. Without missing a beat, he tugged down his shorts and underwear, and proudly proclaimed, "Hey Mom look how short my pee-pee is!"

A barely-holding-it-together mom quickly encouraged her confident son to pull his pants back up amid spurts of laughter. He casually covered up and said, "Ha ha Mom, I'm a funny guy! I pull my pants down outside - I'm so funny!"

Yes, son, yes you are. And apparently the huge strides we are finally making in the potty training realm are giving him overwhelming confidence in his, ahem, equipment.

Here's hoping there are no repeat performances at church!

Potty Boot Camp

I really despise potty training. Currently, two little boys are going through this process at our house, and it is exhausting for this preggo momma. There are two different timers set for each boy, and every time they go off, it's time to hoof it to the bathroom and get the kid on the potty, praying that their undies are dry and that they will indeed use the potty as directed. Laundry piles have definitely increased as my patience has decreased. Only the determination that these two little guys will have a handle on this before baby girl is born keeps me going.

Well, that, and the fact that every time I see a cute little bum clad in adorable toddler underwear run by, it makes me grin from ear to ear.

Watch out, potty training! We shall overcome thee!

Stuck in the Trenches

Potty training. A formidable duo of words. Words that make me want to run screaming and crying to the hills, never to look back. Words that make me want to fork over a large sum of money to anyone who will come in and do the job for me.

Unfortunately, I am stuck in the trenches of this battle. Nay, friends, let's call it what it really is - a WAR! It would have been just a battle had it not lasted (and still continues on) so interminably.

Apparently I was tricked with my first kid. Granted, it was still no easy task, but before the Drama Queen turned three, she was fully potty trained, including night time. Thus I was fooled into thinking that perhaps potty training wasn't so bad. I may have even gone so far as to say that to another mom who was struggling with the whole issue. I was confident in my techniques until. . .

The Beast showed up. He and I have been battling this thing out now for quite some time. I think the first grenade was thrown when I tried to start him at the same age his sister did. It was quickly apparent that he was not "ready." Years later (and yes, I said years people) we are still struggling. The exhaustion is setting in for this mommy. I am tired of changing yet another pull-up or figuring out which stain remover will work best on the latest poop-encrusted underwear. I am weary of making sticker charts, promising sweet rewards, doing several different versions of "potty dances", and pleading with the little man to just use the potty already. I look at my foe - a four-year-old, 44 pound boy - and think, "How is it possible that we have not succeeded yet?"

The Spud has entered the fray as of late. With cheerful Mikeyisms such as "I go potty too" and "gimmecandyipoop", he also wants to attempt a confrontation with the great porcelain throne. You would think he would take one look at his despairing, worn-out mother and BACK OFF, but no, he persists and tries to wedge himself onto the toilet while I am trying yet another tactic with the Beast. He sits on the toilet seat for a nanosecond and then jumps off, pumping his fist into the air and shouting, "I pee in the potty! Now I get a treat!" Then I have to be the bad guy, announcing to both boys that neither will get a treat, since one really didn't pee in the potty and the other one blissfully peed in his pants.

Not to mention, the Beast has another weapon up his sleeve - his recently-diagnosed autism. His lack of focus and poor attention span have certainly magnified the problem. I have several sites offering helpful (and otherwise) information that I continually peruse in seeking advantages in this war of potty training.

Anyone else stuck in these trenches with me? Please, tell me so I can feel like I'm not the only one fighting this. Or, if you made it out alive and succeeded in your venture, share that too. Only don't brag too much - we trench folk wouldn't appreciate that. And for any of you that have advice or awesome tips to help me along the way, I would greatly appreciate it. Especially if your tip was entitled "Potty training your stubborn autistic child in less than a day" or "How to hypnotize your child into using the potty, eating all his dinner, and cleaning up his toys."

I See It Now

I hurried across campus, clutching several large pieces of posterboard protected by plastic bags. Sliding into my desk with a few minutes to spare, I couldn't resist taking one more peek at my art work. The shading on each seashell and the detailing on the treasure chest had taken me hours; but I felt confident that the time was well-spent and would pay off with a good grade. My Materials and Methods professor stopped at my desk to collect my project. She glanced at it briefly. "You always put so much effort into your visuals, Miss Vasel," she remarked. "Just remember you can make great visuals and still not be a good teacher." The comment stung - I was hoping she would notice the detail and quality of my visual pieces. I knew she was right however; and I determined to spend more time on learning and practicing good teaching methods and disciplines practices. Still, on the weekends and during my summers, I created dozens of visuals for teaching aids, preparing for my future teaching career.

I had no idea what a large part visual aids would play in my life. At first, I did not use them that often because I took on a junior high teaching job in which the students were not impressed with carefully-shaded dinosaurs or hand-chalked clowns. When I moved to teaching elementary grades, I took great delight in creating jungle decorations and Peanuts visual aids for my classes. With our first child soon to be born, I stopped teaching to be at home with my baby. I missed drawing, painting, and coloring visuals for my students, but my mommy life was crazy busy. Life marched on as we added more children to the family, and I even enjoyed a brief stint as owner of my own home art business.

When David was diagnosed with high-functioning autism last summer, we began immediately to seek out methods of connecting with him better. I knew he did not learn things the same way that most kids did, and putting him in an ESD preschool helped tremendously. They helped us figure out that our David is a very visual learner. He needs visuals for EVERYTHING! I started out with a comic-strip visual to help him remember all the steps for potty training:

He panics when he does not know what is happening next; so this helps a lot in the potty arena. He is still not "potty-trained"; but he is getting closer to that goal.

With that success, I decided to tackle another problem area - haircuts. Because he has sensory issues, David screams/cries/melts down every time he gets his hair trimmed. It takes both of us to hold him down while we attempt to make his hair look decent. However, with the visual above, we have been able to reduce the screams/meltdowns to just crying. It's a major improvement.

David's teacher provided us with these visuals, called PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) visuals. The little pictures attach to the strip with velcro so they can be changed up as needed to match that day's schedule. This particular strip goes with us everywhere we go, along with a few ziploc bags of pictures we may need. David is a lot calmer and more focused when he can see what's next on the schedule. This strip alone has cut our "get-out-the-front-door-in-the-morning" time from fifteen minutes to five minutes!

We have other PECS strips posted up in the house to help David too. One is designed to help him remember to stay at the dinner table, and another helps him make the transition from playtime to something else, such as dinner time or nap time.

This is David's choice board. I actually use it with all three kids. For example, I tell them that they have five minutes left of play time. After play time, they will have five minutes to clean up. If they are successful, they will get to choose an activity from the choice board. (I usually put up two or three to choose from.) It surprises me how often they choose books or crafts over TV or movies

I had no idea back in college while I was slaving away over those teaching visuals that God was preparing me to be a parent of an autistic child. God's plan is always amazing to watch as it unfolds! Every time I open my purse and catch a glimpse of my sketchpad that I use to draw quick visuals for David on the go, I smile at the thought that God gave me a talent I can use to help my child.

Wordless Wednesday - Potty Training

It is perfectly acceptable to go without pants on potty training days. Hey, you can even go without a shirt, if you like.

But snow boots are not optional. Just so you know.

A Really Really Ridiculously Large Energy Drink

It's finally Friday. I am so exhausted.

Tomorrow 14 little boys will invade our home for a Hot Wheels race car party. We just moved into this house and there is still much to be done.

Today I am again going to be cheerful about potty training and try to make it exciting as possible. I will inevitably be cleaning up potty messes.

This weekend I have to get all the consignment clothes washed, ironed, and tagged for the big sale next week. Last I counted, I have over 200 items. Yawn. It makes me super tired just thinking about it.

We are. . . errr. . . not quite finished in the tax department. Owning my home business has proved to be quite the challenge in figuring out taxes this year. So those still need to be filed.

I have seven outstanding orders currently from The Framed Frog. Hence the exhaustion! I have been staying up late and getting up early to find the extra time to work on these.

And somewhere, in between all of these, there are dirty clothes to wash, dishes to put away, meals to make, boo-boos to kiss, and all the other ordinary things in life.

So I'll pour myself another cup of coffee. And then I'll sit here for a few minutes, snuggling with the kiddies. The to-do list can wait. . .

Gummy Bears

We have been haphazardly trying to potty train the Beast. A 6 pound bag of gummy bears is aiding and abetting us in this endeavor. Apparently the stubborn young fellow will do a lot to earn these coveted gummy treasures, and his sister cheers him on valiantly in hopes of also getting a treat (preferably green).

One night, I went upstairs to check on the kids only to find that the Beast had a most unpleasant smell. He insisted that he still had to go potty; so I sent him downstairs to get cleaned up and to try using the potty. The hubby helped him get situated, and soon his efforts earned him a handful of gummy bears. We sent him, clutching his gummy bears like a trophy, back to bed.

I had just sat back down to do some more work on a custom name train when I heard a very offended voice over the room monitor.
"Hey! Where did you get gummy bears? That's not fair!"
(silence)
"Daaaaddddddy! Daddy! I need some gummy bears too!"
(silence)
"Daddy? Please may I have some gummy bears? "
(another silence)
"Momma? Momma! I want some gummy bears too!"
(longer silence)
and finally. . .
"God? I really need gummy bears!"

At that point, Daddy could no longer resist, and the Drama Queen ended up with a handful of gummy bears (mostly green) as well.