Working the System

Kyra is already learning how to "stick it to the man." We've been potty training officially for about 2 weeks now and once Kyra got it in her head that it was going to be beneficial to her, it's been a breeze. She's been ready for a long time, but with all the transition going on with us this last year, we had been holding off on pushing the issue. The method we used that finally convinced her was we put up progressively larger "potty charts" that as she filled each row, she earned a "potty prize" which got progressively cooler. The first chart required filling up a row of 3 to get a small prize, so the first few times, Kyra adamantly declared that she was going to go potty 3 times (in one sitting) so she could get her potty prize. We kept reiterating that her strategy would not work and that she would need to go potty 3 separate times to get her 3 stars to fill up the row and get her prize. She finally figured that out and for a few days that worked and she began filling up the rows and earning prizes. Then she got wise and figured out a way to work the system. She figured out that she could go potty, but hold a bit back so she could go again in about 10-15 minutes and get another sticker, and repeat until she filled up a row. Little stinker. She's putting something in the potty each time, so how could I argue? So the rest of the potty charts were filled fast and furious and she's gotten a barrage of prizes in a single week. However, even though she figured out a "shortcut," she's still going to the potty, which was the ultimate goal in the first place. So although I'm sure she thinks she's super smart for figuring out a faster path to the prizes and that she's the big winner in this, really, it's me! =)