Three days ago, Jackson entered the bathroom on his own initiative, grabbed his potty seat, and placed it on the potty while singing in a soft, whispery voice, “Jackson put your poopies in the potty.” He proceeded to take the advice of Mommy’s soft-rock ballad created in a moment of desperation during our weekend “Potty Party” over a month ago.
My heart lept as I bounded up the stairs to see if “it” had finally really happened. There he was sitting calmly playing with his Little Touch Leap Pad, and taking care of business. YES! One small step for Jackson, one giant leap for Mommy’s encouraged heart!
We’re in our third day in a row of successfully pooping in the potty, and I’m wondering to what do I owe this blessed success? After over 50 messy accidents, 15 not so gracious corrections on my part, 50 firm “No, not your pants, put that in potty,” multiple attemtps to model what to do, 40 days of false enthusiasm, and about 26 hours whiled away vainly sitting on the throne, we have victory!
Finding the right toy that would distract Jackson enough to relax on the potty, balancing out his diet to make bowl movements more regular and easier to control, singing “the song,” finding the most motivating reward (his sister’s blue floral jacket trumps ice cream and cookies every time), repeating the directive over and over, tearful prayers…I guess all of these things went into it.
About 4 weeks ago, I was desperate…”God help me know when to put him on the potty.” Will God help me potty train my son? Potty training seemed to be outside the realm of “worthy candidates for sovereign intervention,” but I was desperate enough to ask. Within days I realized I had a new radar for when Jack was about to go: I’m in the middle of homeschooling, Jack is jiving to music on the other room, and the thought interrupts me, “Jack, do you need to go potty?” Yep. Caught him just in time. Sit on the potty…30 minutes, 40 minutes…nothing. Off the potty. 30 minutes later, I ignore the nagging thought that Jack does have to go, and big sister calls out cheerfully “Jack’s stinky!” ARRRG! “Okay God, please show me how to get Jackson to relax enough to go while he’s sitting on the potty.” Hmmm…Leap Pad. Nah…he wasn’t really interested in that last time we pulled it out…oh well, lets try it again. And success comes on two fronts: I’m learning to listen to God about something as mundane as Jackson using the potty, and Jackson is overcoming a major milestone.
I’m astounded at the effect this victory is having on me. I feel renewed hope. I didn’t realize what a huge milestone this was or how relieved I would feel to see Jackson overcome it! I have learned so much about myself, felt my patience stretched and snapped, learned to rely on God’s patience and grace, and tune in for His direction. We’re moving forward. Today is a good day.
That is wonderful news! Way to persevere! A good reminder to all of us to stop, listen and ACT when we hear His voice! I’ll be praying that the potty victory continues!
I learned a long time ago that nothing is too small a problem to pray about (aided by something Catherine Marshall wrote in A MAN CALLED PETER regarding a sewing problem). If even the numbers of hairs on your head are known, He already knows our problems but sometimes we have to remember to ask for help. Jesus knocks but we have to open the door.