Dear Jude,
Once upon a time there lived a little boy who woke up one crisp Saturday morning in November and was told that today his new friend, Monkey, was going to learn to use the potty! The little boy very patiently taught Monkey all of the steps involved and even read him stories while he "tried."
And when Monkey was successful at using the potty, he earned a potty party, getting to choose a treat cup (filled with either M&M's or fruit snacks) and a toy from the prize bag!
{The little boy enjoyed this part as much as Monkey did!}
After lunch and naptime it was the little boy's turn to learn to use the potty.
He had a lot of fun looking at the toys in the prize bag...
Coloring {while his mother made sure he stayed very hydrated with juice and water}...
And playing all day long in his big boy undies {on the floor of course}.
And do you know what happened?
The charming little boy learned to use the big boy potty!!!
There were several accidents along the way - and several loads of laundry washed and dried and washed and dried - but the little boy and his mother persevered {and purchased more pairs of pants}, and after two weeks of hard work the mother declared that the little boy was...
...{somewhat officially}...
POTTY TRAINED!!
The little boy felt great pride in wearing his big boy undies, and his mother felt a great sense of accomplishment that she had simply survived. Her bathrooms were now adorned with sticker charts, step stools, potty seats, and Clorox wipes. But the chubby cheeked smile of her oh-so-proud son made it all okay. And totally worth it.
Love you like elastic pants,
Mommy
