Mom ideas

Potty training

I never wanted to use a small potty for training because the thought of rinsing out pee and poop everytime was just too much for me to stomach (I'm pregnant, so this is gross x's a million). But when my son refused to sit on the big potty because he's nervous and afraid, it left me with no choice but to go out and buy one. Then I had the idea of also buying some small scented trash bags and lining the small potty with the bag! I don't know if this idea is tried and true already, but I had never heard of anyone doing it. Hey! Maybe I should market this, go on Oprah, and get rich!! haha..... Now if I can just get my son to "go", I can put my own tip into action!!

Teeth brushing

My son has a strong gag reflex and brushing teeth is like torture for him. I actually have to wait until he cries loud and hard enough to even get his mouth open to get the toothbrush in. Then it becomes a battle between me and his jaw. He closes down so tight and bites it! This is just about every night. Little tricks seemed to work for awhile, but then he caught on and that was the end of that. First trick was to make a joke out of it by listing all the things he ate that day and saying that we needed to get each food out of his teeth...ie: "I seeeeee peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in therrre!!!!" He would laugh and let me brush for a second or two. Then that wore off. Next I would make him say his favorite saying, "AAAAAALLL AAABOARRRD!!" This would make his mouth open wide enough to shove in the toothbrush and clean what little I could. We would do this like 10 times! After a few days he caught on. It was starting to look hopeless. Then my husband had an idea. I have to admit that even though I didn't voice it, I was very skeptical. He said that we should buy him an electric toothbrush. I was thinking to myself that Erik would be even MORE afraid of that than anything. It's a good thing that I did not discourage Chris from this, because it's the best thing we could have done!! Erik thinks that it is so much fun and he even does it himself. After 5 minutes we are having to pry it out of his hands!

Chores

Two year olds can and will do chores if they are taught. At the end of the day (not everyday) I have Erik put all of his toys from around the house and his room into his closet. It takes him about half an hour to do what I could do in 2 minutes but the training is priceless. He is learning and remember where things go and he knows that he is doing something great because after each item is put away he comes back into the living room and claps his hands with excitement. I have him pick one of his toys that he wants to leave out to play with or to bring to bed and I keep it until he is completely finished picking up. Sometimes he comes back for the toy and I have to remind him that he has to finish what he as started.

Diaper "Doody"

Another chore is throwing away his diapers after I change him. I don't even tell him anymore, he just reaches for it when I'm finished changing him and he goes to the kitchen to throw it away. I think he actually enjoys this one!

Swivel Sweeper

He is learning how to use the "swivel sweeper". To anyone who has a lot of floor to sweep, this is the way to go. It's one of my cannot-live-withouts. It's basically a cordless vacuum for floors. I do use it on my kitchen and living room rug, but it does it's best on the floor. It's very quick and easy and it has a rechargable battery. We've had it for at least 3 years and it still does a great job. Anyway, Erik loves to use it and he is getting very good at it. I just turn it on and he goes to town! After he is finished, I just slide off the bottom and empty the contents into the trash. Voila! Clean floors....sort of! He obviously cannot get the job done like an adult would, but the point here is mostly to get him to understand what it is to work hard at something, get it accomplished, and to be a part of helping out the family. I hope he continues to enjoy this as long as possible!!!