Choo Choo! Revisiting the "Potty Train."

WE DID IT! HOORAY! Okay, really, HE did it. Bugga, that is. He is now, officially, potty trained. And not a moment too soon, if you ask me, the expectant mommy. So what, you ask, was the straw that broke the Buggster's obstinate little back? Nothing new, that's fo' sho'. No sir. If I'd have just gone with my gut sooner and whipped out the trick that seems to work miracles with my stubborn little buggers, potty training could have been a memory sitting waaaaay back in the distant past by now.

Cold shower.  Remember it?

That's it. That's my not-so-secret secret. ONE TIME, people. One time! That's all it took for Bugga to just let that poop fall into the toilet bowl instead of his fall-back, go-to, safety net (aka The Diaper).

His one cold shower was hilarious, too. Of course, I had to go close all the windows first so the neighbors wouldn't think I was abusing my child. Then I hauled him in there, kicking and screaming (him, not me). He tried his best to claw his way out of that shower, yelling at the top of his lungs. But when that tepid water shot out of the shower head and onto his bare little body, his shouted, indignant cries turned from "NO! NO! NO! NOT A COLD SHOWER!" to "I LIIIIIIIIKE THIS. AHHHHHH! I LIIIIIIIKE THIS COLD SHOWER!" All while gasping and sputtering. Oh no, he was NOT going to let this mommy get the best of him. At least he was refusing to show it, anyway, professing even under duress that he surely did like that cold shower. I had a really, really hard time not busting up laughing, sensitive mother that I am.

Alas, despite his vociferous claim of undying love for the cold shower, when it came time to poop again and he was threatened with either a set down on the chamber pot or a cold shower, he opted for pooping. And has done so, without prompting, every day thereafter.

Now this little mother's heart is warmed by the sight of her Buggster, charging for the bathroom with an amplified announcement of "POOP!" rolling off his tongue as he goes. He doesn't even need me to help him climb onto the throne. Unsurprisingly, he's quite self-sufficient when he puts his mind to something. :D

I'm happy. And so is he. Here he is demonstrating how this milestone achieved has turned our frowns upside-down: