Fish in My Hair

Surgery

Homeschool blog awards

Christmas Giveaway 2009

You will find over 30 giveaways at 5MinutesforMom during their Christmas Giveaway event from November 5th to November 26th.  If you know a family who will not be able to provide presents for their children this Christmas, click on the right button and read more about Under the Tree and how you can nominate a family in need.

I planned on a contest this week, really I did!

Potty Training in a Day

As of three days ago, I have officially potty-trained SIX children.  Can that go on my resume someday?  :o)

With each child I have used the 1970s book "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day" with success.  Each child has been different and responded differently, but the longest it ever took was a day and half (and that because I switched with hubby after the first half of the first day and I think not having consistency made it confusing).

My sixth child watched as I taught "Dolly" to use the potty and got hysterical.  "That's funny!" he kept saying.  Then within 45 minutes from the start of training he had independently toileted three times, which the book calls "trained."  Wow.  45 minutes.  That beat his brother's record of 1 hour.  What a blessing, especially as I am 32 weeks pregnant! 

I had determined to NEVER toilet train in my third trimester as the practice trials after each accident totally wear me out (physically and emotionally) but nausea prevented me from training him at the ideal age of 2 1/2 years old, so now at 2 years and 10 months-- DONE.  Just in time for the newest little one to arrive.  We're down to just one in diapers for a few more weeks!  :o)

With the last two children I have given balloons and party-favors after the first success and that has been a great motivator.  The '70s book is very detailed and a lot of work, and it works.  But going forward I would recommend Dr. Phil's Toilet Training in a Day method which is a stripped-down model and works the same way.  You can google and find his official site with an article about it.  Basically, you train a doll to use the potty and then throw a "potty party".  Then throw a "potty party" once the child goes to the potty.  After that, with each accident you do 9 or 10 practice drills of running to the potty and practicing from different parts of the house.  He says it builds "memory muscle" to do the drills.   You never go back to diapers after training day, but we use pull-ups at naps and nighttime until they stay dry.  Two of our children were dry from day one at naps and at night, but a few others needed a pull-up at night until they were four years old.  We don't stress over that part--they'll stay dry when they're ready during sleep.

Training Day and practice drills are definitely NOT FUN, but it totally works -quickly- and that makes it worth it to us!

Thankful, thankful, thankful

Prescription Problems

On the road again...

Ashes

In the words of Steve Earle:

Now, nobody lives forever
Nothin' stands the test of time
Oh, you heard 'em say "never say never"
But it's always best to keep it in mind
That every tower ever built tumbles
No matter how strong, no matter how tall
Someday even great walls will crumble
And every idol ever raised falls
And someday even man's best laid plans
Will lie twisted and covered in rust
When we've done all that we can but it slipped through our hands
And it's ashes to ashes and dust to dust

The Teacher and Technique (or the introduction)