I really didn't make Piney write that 100 times, but only because she can't write yet (ha ha).

Last night we had an incident of peeing on the floor. This was at home, so nothing traumatic or new to set it off.

The natural consequence was that she couldn't wear her dirty underwear or any underwear.

She seemed to be very unhappy about the consequence. Especially because it meant that she could no longer sit on the sofa with her brother and watch the video they had been watching together.

Today she kept her underwear clean at school, so I thought maybe the consequence was effective.

As a reward we gave her ice cream. Then our family went out for dinner.

At dinner she said she needed to go to the potty, so I took her. When we got in there she said she didn't need to go now.

However, I thought she should try, so I set her down on the potty and waited until she went a little bit.

About 10 minutes later she said she had to go again. This time I started thinking it was a ploy to get out of her seat and run around and since she had just gone I told her she could wait until we got home.

As we were going home she said she didn't need to go potty anymore. At home she didn't go.

Then our family all walked to the movie theater. I talked to her and said, "If you need to go potty- just tell me- because there are potties in the movie theater and I will take you inside. I said this to her several times. We got in line (it was a long line to see the movie). It is hard for little girls to wait in lines, so I thought I would take her over to a little play area that was next to the movie theater.

We weren't at the park 1 minute before she peed all over the slide.

I walked her all the way back home and here we sit at home, missing the movie.

I tried to let her understand that her choice to pee in her pants made us both miss the movie. She is very upset about missing the movie, but I don't know if she gets the connection, or if she just thinks I am being mean for taking her home from the movie.

I don't know if it is sinking in at all. I don't know if anything I do really makes any difference.

Sometimes I think that nothing I try makes a difference.

Just today I was sitting at my son's karate class and overheard a conversation nearby.

Lady: "My five year old daughter potty trained my two year old son in ONE day. Really. I did nothing. She showed him how to go and that was it. He never had an accident in the day or night after that. I did no effort whatsoever. No baby potty. Nothing. It was so EASY."

Ya. Thanks for that.

Just what I needed to hear today.

Sigh.

Labels: adopted child: developmental delays