Victory!

Here is the story behind this picture. Alex is holding a Thomas the Tank Engine toy called "Rosie". Alex saw Rosie about a week and a half ago at TJ Maxx when shopping with mom. Mom told him he could get one toy, and he selected Rosie's friend "Sir Handel", another Thomas toy.

With typical toddler greediness, Alex saw Rosie after selecting Sir Handel and began to beg for that one as well. Mom told him that if he went potty on the "big boy" potty, mom would get him Rosie. A few days later, dad took Alex to TJ Maxx and Alex began the Rosie conversation again. This time saying, "we buy Rosie, dad, we buy it!"

Matt mentioned it to me when he got home, and I clued Matt in so we were both on the same page. During the course of the week, I would repeatedly get told, "I want to go to TJ Maxx to get Rosie". I would remind Alex that if he used the big boy potty, we would head over to TJ Maxx and get Rosie. Typically, this was met with "No", or a change of the subject, or just an overall sudden disinterest in talking to me.

(I should add that this is a kid who has willingly gone to the bathroom before, and just decided after a few times it was much easier to stay in diapers because he didn't really see what the fuss was all about being potty trained.)

On Wednesday, after 90 minutes of reading, drinking water and repeated trips to the bathroom, we had success! Alex of course wanted to go claim the Rosie engine. We headed on over, and I had a flash of panic wondering if the darn thing was still there or not. Scanning the toys, I didn't see it at first, until I located it on the top shelf. In true TJ Maxx discounted style, the packaging on Rosie was all beaten and torn up. I think in our case, that helped deter other, more discriminating children. Whew...

On the downside, Alex found another toy, Flora the Tram Engine, for which I will once again use Chicago Machine-style bribing methods. Instead of campaign contributions for a senate seat, I will accept potty time in return for a plastic train made in China. I think even Rahm Emmanuel would be impressed.