Jellybean Bribery

UPDATE------ The phone just rang a little while ago. It was the sweetest little voice on the phone. He said, "Mommy.....I have to tell you something! I pooped on the potty!!!!!" He was so excited. And I have to tell you, I nearly jumped out of my chair doing a happy dance of my very own. He enjoyed two jellybeans for his success and seems awfully proud of himself. Way to go buddy! Who knew motherhood held such joy.....over poop.

The moral of this morning....never underestimate the power of a jellybean.

Over the weekend I was quite pleased to find Starburst jellybeans at the grocery store. This time of year is right up my alley--- marshmallow peeps and Starburst jellybeans rank high on my list of things that make me happy. So I was sure to put a package of both into the cart on Saturday morning. Joshua, it seems, shares my love of jellybeans because when I got a few out after lunch, he just HAD to try them. And he loved them.

We all know I'm not ashamed to use bribery in parenting. I'd prefer to call it "persuasion", but really, let's call a spade a spade. It's bribery. I manage to results, folks...that's just all there is to it. I believe I've shared that potty training is not really something that Joshua is showing great interest in. I know it's early still, and I know that, especially for boys, it's better not to push them before they're ready. So we haven't been. We're still taking him to the potty frequently, encouraging him to tell us when he needs to go, but not making a huge production out of it at this point. My ultimate goal is this spring/summer, but introducing the concept can't hurt at this stage.

So, since M&M's are a huge no-no with the allergy issues we have, I've been looking for a little reward that might generate interest. And the jellybeans have it. You can almost set your watch to Joshua's first dirty diaper of the day after his breakfast, so I thought we'd give it a shot. When he woke up, I told him that he could have two jellybeans if he pooped in the potty after breakfast. The whole time he ate his pancakes, he was telling me about how excited he was for his jellybeans. I don't yet know the outcome, but he was perched on the potty when I had to leave to come to work. If nothing else, he at least tried.

We'll get there...although I may need to stock up on Starburst jellybeans before the Easter season is finished to be sure we have enough to make it!