Day 87: Once Upon a Potty

We have been potty training my son for a looooong time now, but, at the risk of jinxing it, I think it's finally safe to say that he's bought into the whole idea and is officially potty trained.  Hooray!  To celebrate this momentous occasion, I thought I'd feature a few of the stories that helped us get there.  There seem to be many different potty books out there, so odds are there are others that are even better than those we have relied on, but the first story that really seemed to encourage my son to say goodbye to diapers was Once Upon a Potty.  I'll start by saying that I think this book is probably one that falls into the "love it or hate it" category, at least from a parent's perspective.  There are definitely strange elements to the story that might turn some people off:  the narrative tone of the mother ("and I, Joshua's mother") used repeatedly through the book, the fact that the potty doesn't look anything like the potty chairs our children are used to seeing (it's really more of a pitcher), or the use of the terms "wee wee and poo poo" (which are intended to be substituted with your family's words of choice.)  I'll admit that I wasn't quite sure what to think of it the first time I read it, but for only $.25 at our library's book sale, I figured I had nothing to lose.  I brought it home and my son was intrigued by it from the start.  It soon became a regular fixture in our bathroom, and my son would sit and read the story over and over while he sat on the potty.   He especially loved saying, "He sat and sat and sat and sat and sat and sat..."  One day he even came running out to say, "I used the potty just like Joshua!"  So rather than critique the book's quirks, I'll let my son's love of the book be our testament to the story.  Now, don't get me wrong.  It's not like he read this and was potty trained by the next day, but I think he liked the simple explanations and straightforward manner in which Joshua learns to use the potty.  And I definitely think it helped encourage him to use the potty.  This book comes in two versions -- one for boys and one for girls -- so when it comes time for my daughter to be potty trained, I'll be sure to look for the girl's version at our next library book sale.  To those of you potty training now, I wish you much luck and speedy success!