Ann Ipock
            Humorist, author, speaker

Georgetown Times

Potty training Easy for some

By Ann Ipock                                                             May 27, 2008 

I often wonder with potty training who is being trained: the child or the parent? I guess it's both in a way. I was lucky in that both of our girls were easy to train. That's another reason I was thankful to have girls -- they seem "easier" to potty train.

Just think about it: I could be the one to take them to the bathroom when we were away from home. Mommies seem to have an easier time when they can pop in and out of the "girls" restroom with daughters. Ditto for daddies and sons.

For some reason, Katie, our youngest daughter, was fascinated with bathrooms everywhere we went. We never sat through an entire meal in a restaurant or an entire church service that she didn't say, "I have to go potty."

But I have to hand it to hubby Russell -- while we were at home, he probably changed more of Katie's diapers than I ever did. He also was good at burping, bathing and book reading. What a dad!

And he still continues to be: How many 6'2" fathers would load up and then drive their daughter's tiny Honda Civic packed chock-full from an apartment in Baton Rouge to Wilmington while we girls flew? (Hey, there was no room for us in the car!)

So I cracked up today when Carly, our 2-1/2 year old granddaughter was visiting and the subject of potty training came up.

She absolutely adores her granddaddy and follows him around like his shadow. At one point Kelly, our oldest daughter, was preparing to change her diaper when Carly asked if her granddaddy could change it. He admitted it'd been over 20 years, but he'd give it a try. As we watched her lay on the bed, Carly wrinkled her forehead and asked Russell, "Grandaddy, do you know how to do this?"

Then she proceeded to show him how Elmo's picture must go in the front. A while later, she walked up to Kelly and said, "It's too tight!" And honey, she untaped that diaper right on the spot and retaped it; then she said, "That's better!" As you can see, she talks like an adult, but she's still not ready to let that diaper go.

The whole family is trying to train Carly, giving suggestions and hints, but she hasn't caught on yet.

In fact, I've never seen this action before, but she says from time to time, "I have to go potty!" and then she climbs up on the regular toilet (she doesn't like potty chairs or the padded tops for toilets), but more often than not says, "I can't go!" and hops down just as quickly as she hopped up. This whole thing takes less than one minute.

I've told Kelly all the psychology books in the world won't beat our method: Pure and simple, the formula is no-fail. It's M&M's as a reward! We were able to potty train Katie in 24 hours with those luscious, sweet, colorful chocolate disks. And though up until that point I was super strict about limiting sugar, I gave in at the luxury of buying no more Pampers.

I have a friend whose granddaughter, Maddie J., also was easy to train, and believe it or not, they also used M&M's. Madelene (Nanny) keeps her granddaughter part-time while the mother works. Madelene knew they had finally achieved success when one day she asked Maddie J., "Do you have a poopy diaper?" and her reply was, "No! And you don't have pick me up and smell me either!" Madelene demonstrated how she would hold her up and sniff if she was unsure of a poopy diaper.

And though children and puppies are quite different, I must say that's the reason I never had a dog. We tried to have two but I couldn't house train either one of them. So while still at the puppy stage, and at different times in my adult life, I had to find a "good home" for both Lucky (not so lucky after all) and Clover (again, even with the four-leaf clover in mind, not so lucky).

I don't think Katie has ever forgiven me, but when she moves into her own permanent home (she just graduated from Louisiana State with a master's degree in music performance), she can get her own puppy and train it herself.

But I'm already warning her that it won't be as easy as it is (sometimes) with children, since puppies can't talk, point to the potty, retape their own diapers, or above all, eat chocolate.

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