potty talk

There's something about potty training that makes me feel like an invalid walking on eggshells. We don't leave the house, except for briefly in the late afternoons, and when we are at home, we're not doing anything even remotely complicated (mostly watching movies and playing easy-to-interrupt games). I'm so focused on helping Garrett keep his pants dry that daily routines get delayed or simply thrown out the window, and at the end of every day I'm so tired and achy even my eyeballs hurt. But I think we're seeing some progress. No, I know we're seeing some progress. Maybe not the progress I'd hoped to see by this point, but it's something. And so we keep at it, even though both Garrett and I dread the day ahead each morning and occasionally break down in tears and frustration shortly after waking up.

Monday was a deal breaker sort of day. We were taking things up another notch, and I knew from the beginning that I was setting myself up for exhaustion and a horrible headache, not to mention lots of puddles and countless pairs of wet underpants. At the end of the day I was ready to end Round 1 (or are we on Round 2?), throw in the towel, and try again in a few months. If Tuesday didn't go any better, I vowed, that was exactly what I'd do.

But then Tuesday did go better. Immensely better. So long as I stayed on top of Garrett, constantly asking him if his pants were dry, if he needed to use the potty, and taking him there even though he claimed he didn't have to go (I know a potty dance when I see one), he kept his pants dry. In fact, he stayed dry until sometime during his mid-afternoon speech therapy session, with the exception of one accident just before lunch. Today's gone just about the same, and consequently both of us are feeling happier and more confident.

And so we're still at it. He won't go yet without prompting, and I have to sit with him while he does to help him, ahem, aim. But he's doing it. He goes every time I tell him to sit on the potty. And while I'm still the one telling him he needs to go, he's starting to go more because he needs to and less because he wants a treat (though the M&Ms dispensed through the gumball machine are still an incredible incentive).

But there are a few things we still need to figure out:

1. Poop. It hasn't happened for him yet. Well, not in the potty. It has in his pants, however.
2. Teaching him how to go without prompting. I'm told this will just click with him eventually, but I'm starting to wonder. I guess part of me is afraid that he'll just get in the habit of me always telling him to go so he won't learn how to do it himself. Am I worrying needlessly on this one?
   
3. Wearing pants. He hasn't graduated to wearing pants over his underwear yet. I'm sort of waiting until he can go without prompting to start fully dressing him again, but like I mentioned above, I'm starting to wonder if that will ever happen. Or maybe we'll just embrace summer and stick to staying half-naked.
4. And close on the heels of wearing pants -- leaving the house. Well, leaving it while wearing underwear. We've been gradually working up to more and more hours each day spent in underwear. By mid-afternoon, however, we've both just about had it. Either we need to leave the house to run a couple errands, or Garrett has a speech therapy session that requires his focus, and it's been difficult to make the leap while we're outdoors or doing other things.
5. Naps and bedtime. Because of our limited access to laundry facilities (see also #4), I recently broke my own cardinal rule of potty training and bought a package of Pull-Ups. While the concept and fewer messes are nice, I really don't believe that disposable training pants teach kids anything. But I don't have a way to wash his sheets on a daily basis, so I bought some for him to wear while he sleeps. I also just started using them during his speech therapy sessions. I might use them to leave the house, but that one's still up in the air. I don't want him to think they are just a glorified diaper (even though that's what they are), so their use will be limited.

If any of you more seasoned potty trainers have ideas on how to tackle the above, please share. I'm realizing more and more that both Garrett and I are learning how to potty train, and we both need all the help we can get. In the meantime, we'll just keep taking it one little step at a time.