Day 808 - The Boy Who Cried Pee

We are still potty training the kids. They both have successfully pooped and peed in their potty seats several times, but it has been far from consistent. I've tried to show them how fun it is to use the potty seats, but I only embarrassed myself in front of them because I did not realize the baby potty seats would not hold my poop. We have a long way to go, but at least they no longer fear the seats.

Andrew finally peed in his potty seat a few weeks ago. He was taking a bath and then he held his junior privates and said, "Shi-shi!" Shi-shi is the Japanese equivalent of pee-pee. We've been trying to teach them the Japanese words for pee-pee and poo-poo. For some reason I think it is more acceptable for the kids to shout the Japanese version of these words in public. As I mentioned, pee-pee is shi-shi. The Japanese version of poo-poo is shitamapantsu. Hmm...maybe poo-poo would be better.

The problem we're having with Andrew is that he is telling us he has to go shi-shi all the time now. Every time he sits in his high chair, he shouts, "SHI-SHI!" In the beginning we were happy he was telling us, but then we realized it has become a ploy to postpone meal time. Pretty much any time he wants attention, he'll shout "SHI-SHI!" And he'll cry and fuss until we put him on the potty.

What reinforces this behavior is that we have tried to make potty time entertaining. We'll read books to the kids, inflate a moon bounce, and have pony rides (we have a big bathroom). I guess Andrew enjoys the activities associated with potty time so much that he asks for it by name now.

Lisa and I still aren't completely sure what to do about Andrew's behavior. We have started to tell him that he should only tell us he needs to sit on the potty when he really has to use it. I don't know whether he understands us, but the elaborate powerpoint presentation I showed him was useless. I guess we'll continue to put him on the potty when he asks for it, but emphasize that he has to pee or poop. And if that doesn't do anything, we'll just make him sit in his own urine..just like Lazy Grandpa.