Potty Boot Camp, Day 3

Yesterday we "took a little break" from potty training in the afternoon, and put a diaper on Bagel. This was a good strategy because it reduced his frustration. Quite frankly, anything that reduces his frustration is a good thing. It's only Day 3 and he's already starting to get so frustrated that he's making threats again. Mostly he's just making threats to fire us and/or run away from home; at least he's not making death threats today. I bet by tomorrow he'll have moved on to death threats though. I hate that because when he makes death threats I have to put my foot down on those, which usually provokes him so much that he ends up in his room calming down for considerable stretches of the day. I've been trying to teach him a self-calming strategy of retiring to his room voluntarily for a few minutes to play with toys and "cool off" when he starts to get violent, and this morning he did it!

We went to the store and bought him three packages of briefs: a six-pack of tighty whiteys, a six-pack of colors and prints, and a three-pack of Transformers briefs. We are pottying him every half hour. No accidents yet, although it isn't even 9 a.m. and we still have to get through the science club coming over to our house. I expect I'll have to take care of at least one accident during the club meeting.

Bagel was DRY this morning, so we must be doing something right.