Success

I debated discussing this here, but just can't resist sharing the success we've had with the mostly unknown red vines method for potty training. I cannot take the credit for this idea, which is another reason I'm writing this post. I think my friend, Jana, deserves so much praise for sharing this idea with me (I don't know if she thought of it or got it from someone else, but I'm giving her all the credit) and I think she deserves the praise in blogland.

Here's how it goes:
1) Buy a bucket of red vines
2) Put them on the back of your toilet (if that totally grosses you out, put them on the counter. Our counter is unfortunately too small to hold the bucket, so the toilet won out--disgusting or not)
3) Make a sign and tape it to the bucket that says
1. GO POTTY 2. WASH YOUR HANDS 3. TAKE A RED VINE. Hooray for you!

Now, here I revised the method a bit because I thought it would work better for Owen if he saw us all having red vines when we used the toilet (TooMuchInformation?). So that became the fun part. Anytime anyone in our house (visitors included) visited the loo they were rewarded with a red vine. As long as they washed their hands first, that is. We love red vines in our house, so this has been lots of fun. You can imagine how many times James would use the toilet all day long just for more red vines. But hey, I was willing to eat 5 red vines a day myself if it would potty train Owen. I know, it's quite a sacrifice.

And guess what? It worked. We are officially done with diapers until May when they will come back with a vengeance when the wee one arrives.

Jana, you're awesome.

Okay, seriously, no more potty talk on the blog. But if you visit our house soon, you might just win a red vine. Now you know how to get one.