What my life has become

Not that I had a fascinating life before kids, but I am realizing tonight how far into MommyZone I have descended.  As I have probably mentioned before, Little Man, who turned 4 in the fall, still refuses to poop in the potty.  The struggle has been intensified since he finally potty trained this summer, just in time to start preschool.  But he wears a diaper to poop.  He will actually ASK for a diaper, or ask to take a nap, so he can access his diaper and poop in it.

After talking to friends, searching the internet, reading some books and a visit with the pediatrician, we have tried "everything" to get him to poop in the potty.  He pees on the potty, so he isn't afraid the potty is going to eat him. He flushes the potty, so he isn't afraid of the sound.  He knows when he has to poop.

We've tried bribery, charts, regularly sitting him on the potty, begging, laxatives and withholding his diaper.  The last time we withheld the diapers (October), he didn't poop for 4 days until I relented and gave them back. Didn't want him to end up hospitalized or something from impacted poop!

The pediatrician told me in November I just need to let it go. "Eventually every kid potty trains and gives up diapers." True. But easier said than done. I've been dealing with diapers since 2006. Disposable for his sister, cloth for him, and now disposable for him because he's been in them so long that he used them to death! I just want to be done. And I want my kid to poop in the potty of just being a stubborn... well, stubborn stubborn-head.  The pediatrician also said that it is about control and that as long as Little Man has any sense that I am trying to push him into pooping on the potty, he appears to be resisting me. So, therefore, I need to eliminate the power struggle.

So since early November, I've been practicing "letting it go" and not caring that my 4 year old still poops in diapers. And I have to clean it up.

On Friday, Little Man had a particularly disgusting post-nap diaper.  As I gagged and cleaned him up, an idea struck! I told Little Man that if he pooped in his diaper from now on, he would be responsible to clean himself up. That Mama is done cleaning up poopy diaper butts.

His response: complete RAGE. (And, if you know Little Man, rage actually doesn't happen that often.)
He stomped around and shouted about how he would NOT clean his poopy butt.  But I held firm.

So that was Friday and today is Monday. We are on day 3 of no poop, because of course now that pooping in the diaper has apparently been taken away as an option, he is holding it again. (The reaction definitely makes me wonder if the "dealing with the cleanup" may be part of the interest in still pooping in diapers.)

Yesterday, Little Man actually agreed to try to poop on the potty a few times. Even this is an improvement. We spent 40 minutes in the bathroom last night, counting. And then shouting "Poop! You come out! Go into the potty!" and then making exaggerated pushing sounds and faces. But no poop.

Tonight though... VICTORY!!!

YES! My Little Man pooped in the potty!!

Wanna know what I did first?

I took a picture of the poop and text messaged it to his Daddy! (Since he was presenting his school budget to the school board, I'm sure he appreciated turning on his phone to find a picture of a giant poop!)

Then we called his teacher so he could say, "This is Little Man. I pooped in the potty. Hooray! Goodbye!"

And then I realized, there is something wrong with me. I TOOK A PICTURE OF MY SON'S POOP IN THE POTTY! And I don't even care! He pooped! In the potty!

Hooray!