Perserverance

We are still trying to Potty train Luca. It has been 6 months and it has been brutal. I had no idea that potty training could go on and on and on as it has. Maybe we pushed too hard but I thought he would catch on and feel motivated to use the potty on his own. Regardless of the reasons, he was not ready and it has not worked at all. After months of cleaning disgusting underwear, lots of plastic bags, and fear everywhere I would go, we decided to give up and put him back in diapers when he was not at school. I felt relief. Then he started to have accidents at school and his teachers call me after an hour to pick him up. So really, all of the pressure to potty train him has defeated the purpose. I wanted a bit of a break and some special time with Silvio, but now I am picking up Luca after an hour of school. He does not like to leave school and cries for an hour whimpering "I don't want to go home." He knows that if he has an accident, he has to go home, but it hasn't changed much. We haven't been putting much effort into the potty because I needed a break. I was so tired of the chaos, the smell, the stress, and the screaming. I just really could not take it anymore. Taking care of the needs of 3 children is a lot to handle, but taking care of 3 kids when one is pooping in his pants all if the time is just ridiculous. So we stopped pushing. I had a break and took a deep breath.
Last week, Brian and I decided that we needed to give him another push. We needed to try something different. We decided that we would have "naked day" with Daddy. Sofia, Silvio, and I headed to the East Bay to visit our dear friends Kristen and Annika and left Daddy and Luca naked at home. I bought tons of surprises and gifts for Luca for motivation, including a bug sticker book, a new truck, and a new lovie. We needed a new approach, a new strategy to tackle this bear of potty training the Lu. And it worked, although not as quickly as expected. When we got home around 3:30, Luca had not yet pooped and Brian was doubtful that it was gong to happen. Within a half hour of talking up Luca's big surprise (new lovie), Luca ran to the potty on his own and pooped. Brian and I cheered, jumped up and down, and gave Luca a ton of high-fives. I almost cried, I was so excited. Who knew that poop could ever bring me to joyful tears? He did it on his own. I was relieved, thrilled, and so happy for Luca. He loved his big surprise and we continued to talk about his amazing progress. He has done fairly well over the last 3 days with a few accidents here and there, but overall "naked day" was a huge success. I am glad we took a break to reevaluate our approach and I am glad that we gave Luca the opportunity to succede. Hopefully, we will continue to move forward and I will have one less diaper to change. I am hopeful.