Diapers disposed

It's official. Seven out of seven children use the potty. :)

I knew this day would come, even back when I had just one child. I knew, eventually, all the kiddles would be potty trained and I wouldn't have to lug a diaper bag around everywhere I go, but after very nearly fifteen years of at least one person in diapers, it just doesn't lessen the triumph! Squee-a-rama!

During the Saturday morning session of General Conference I found Mack naked on the toilet. He'd stripped himself down, diaper and all, and settled himself. We'd given a few unsuccessful cracks at potty training before that, so I wasn't overly optimistic, but I sat on the edge of the tub beside him and LO AND BEHOLD he pooped. And then an hour later, he peed. And later! And again! And though I was hesitant to start banking the diaper money, I couldn't help being a little excited.

He picked up on going #1 right away. #2 we struggled with a little more, despite his stellar beginning. For the rest of that week he pooped on the floor instead of in the potty. He knew it was coming, he's sometimes warn me, we'd sometimes sit with him on the potty, but he'd wait until he was off and alone to poop. *long-suffering sigh* So I decided bribery was the key, and candy was his currency.

I bought a big bag of Starbursts. I told him every time he went poop on the potty, he'd get one. All the other kids, of course, got jealous and whined and I said, Okay fine, today and only today, when you go poop on the potty *eyeroll* you may have a candy.

That first day was tragic. He sat on the potty three times, really needing to go, before finally pooping on the floor. No candy for him. But! All five of the others pooped in the potty just fine of course and each got their candy. He was a little jealous raving maniac by the end of the day, going in to sit and "poop" on the potty every ten minutes because he wanted a Starburst so badly; all he really did was sit there whining and begging, though.

But the next day, by golly, he pooped in the potty. Yay! Bribe! And the next day, and all the days after. It's been a couple of weeks of success, so I'm going to stamp this potty training file "Case Closed" and get on with my diaper-free life.

Well, mostly diaper-free; Mack and one other still need them at nighttime because they don't stay dry all night. But those are only wet diapers. As long as I'm not changing the poops anymore, I'm One Happy Mommy.