For the last several months my wife and I have been trying with very limited success to potty train our less than interested son Devin. We have been pulling our hair out trying to determine which potty training approach will be most effective for a child that is obviously intelligent enough to learn how to use a toilet, but otherwise unmotivated. When we consult the magazine and real life professionals we get answers that vary only slightly in degrees of discouragement. Devin’s pediatrician said “don’t force him, I promise he’ll be potty trained by the time he gets married!” Needless to say Shalawn and I were not amused. I just thought about the diaper and laundry bills form decades of pooping of Devin in his pants. It would be sure to make a catastrophic impact on his college fund.

Then we thumbed through several parenting magazines, which by the way, always seem to have an unhelpful article on potty training in every issue, and we were left in a chronic state of melancholy. OK maybe I’m being a bit hard on the parenting magazines. I guess I want the trick, or the pill or the 100% guaranteed foolproof thing that that will make my little Vin love the idea of taking a dump on the big boy toilet. The reality is that there is no silver bullet solution to the potty training dilemma. Even the pros cannot agree. One said you should wait until your child is four if need be, another said they’ll go when they are ready, and yet another refused to give an age range for when you should expect your little poo factory to start saving you some money on diapers.

Shalawn and I have recently decided on a course of action and are currently implementing it. It’s a gently encouraging technique that uses stickers as the prize for completing various stages of the potty process. A colleague gave me the suggestion after having marked success with her daughter and using these very special glitter and gel-like stickers that excited the little girl. The little girl was allowed to stick these stickers all over the bathroom door after she won them and loved looking at them as a reminder of her success. Eventually she no longer needed stickers as encouragement to use the bathroom because to her and her parents u