The Park Pooper Is No More

A while ago I shared the sordid tale of being the mom of Park Pooper. That is, a boy who would poop in his pants at the park and then strip down, inevitably leaving me to pick his business off the playground equipment while all the other moms looked on.

Yep. That'll get you kicked off the island.

But guess what? Yesterday the Park Pooper pooped in the potty at the park. And then he did it again today!

Unfortunately, an outrageous potty dance at the park will also make all the other moms look, too.

But what the heck. It was a victory worth celebrating!

© Trippin' Mama 2011

The (Bottom) End Is in Sight

It seems that potty training is nearly behind us. Last week we had just one accident, and one of my two holdouts on the pooping in the potty front finally caved.

I can't claim any credit for teaching this one to poop on the potty. Our efforts were aided by a little intestinal trouble that made it very easy to go, almost too easy! Every time he sat on the potty he went, and every time he got the latest potty-training treat: candy corn. (I'm going to have to stock up on that stuff before the season is over!)

I hope this means the end of pooping at the playground and then stripping down because "it feels yucky." Yep, I know what it feels like to be the mom who has to chase down a half-naked boy and then pick his poop up off the playground equipment. After the first incident I started to carry plastic bags in case I had to do pooper scooper duty again. I shudder to think how many times I had to use them.

My other non-potty pooper is now diaper trained. When he has to do the deed, he goes to the bathroom, gets a pull-up, puts it on and then comes to me to be changed after he's done.

Hey, I'll take it. As long as I don't have to clean any more poopy underwear, it's all good.

Now that I've finally, with great trepidation, started to leave the bathroom door open, the boys have started to just go in and use the potty without being told. They have also started to go in and run a sink full of water or "clean" the potty, which is why I resisted leaving the door open in the first place.

You've just got to take the bad with the good, I guess!

© Trippin' Mama 2011

The Potty Training Finals

The boys have been in big boys undies since December, and I was putting up with dirty pants multiple times a day as we went through the worst stage of potty training. It's what I refer to as the "please-please-I'm-begging-you-to-poop-in-the-potty stage." Emphasis on the "please-please-I'm-BEGGING-you."

They were doing pretty well when it came to peeing in the potty and I hated to use pull ups and confuse them, so we trudged onward, even after the day they pooped together on the floor.

On Mother's Day two of three boys pooped in the potty, causing me to celebrate that as the best Mother's Day gift ever. (Sad, but true.)

Not long after that came a day when everyone seemed to have forgotten everything they knew. I had a dozen pairs of wet and/or dirty undies in the wash by noon. I'd had it. And then the boys came up from the basement playroom and proudly announced, "We went downstairs and pooped together."

WHAT?!?

Sure enough, every last one of them was poopy. Who knew pooping in your pants was a team sport?

It was the end of the line for me. Jeff called about that time and got a download of crazy from me that he didn't even know what to do with. I later told him he could have legitimately hung up on me. He'd have had to sleep in the garage for a week, but it would have been legit.

Mama needed a break, so I gave in and bought pull ups. A one week break stretched to almost three weeks, but we're back in undies again, and everyone is doing great. We've been venturing out in our big boys pants with only one minor accident. (Note to the shoe store lady: Seriously, carpet? All you sell are kids' shoes. I'm sure we aren't the first to pee on your floor.)

Alex has the pooping thing down now. Something he likes to prove about six times a day just so he can get a Tootsie Roll. I may have the first two-year-old with hemorrhoids if he keeps this up.

And Sam has become obsessed with a pair of red Lightning McQueen undies. In fact, he has them on over the top of a diaper tonight. Since I didn't get to wash them, I'll have to battle him out of the them in the morning. But that's a battle I'm willing to fight!

Here's hoping that this time the end truly is in sight.

Trippin' Mama 2011

Best Mother's Day Gift Ever

Not to brag, but I got the best Mother's Day present ever today.

BEST. EVER.

Not jewelry. (Though Amelia helped choose a beautiful necklace for me.)

Not flowers. (Though I got a gorgeous yellow bouquet.)

Not cards. (Though I got some very sweet cards.)

Not breakfast in bed. (Though we had a yummy breakfast casserole for brunch.)

So what, you ask, could this best gift be?

Wait for it...wait for it...

Two of the boys pooped in the potty!!!

Color me so excited. Could this possibly be the beginning of the end of the very worst part of potty training? I certainly hope so.

I'll take that over breakfast in bed any day.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms, grandmas, and special aunties and friends who help mother so many kids. I hope you all got to celebrate with the people you love.

© Trippin' Mama 2011

The Adventures of Potty Boy, The Bandit And Mr. Footprint

Once again, names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent.

We are in the worst stage of potty training. Also known as the "Please, please Mommy is begging you to poop in the potty" phase. I've changed enough poopy underwear to last me several lifetimes.

Since the boys are pretty predictable, I've been putting them on the potty about the time they usually do the deed and trying to keep them there for 5-10 minutes so they can go in the potty. It reminds me a lot of the early days of potty training.

Unfortunately, the boys have the run of the house now and are into a lot more things than they were in the early days. Which means that the other two get into a lot more trouble when I'm in the bathroom doing tricks to keep someone occupied long enough to do the deed.

Which brings us to what happened the other day...

After 15 minutes on the potty and no results, I put a certain boy in undies and sent him on his way. Not two minutes later I glanced over to see he had "the face." I grabbed him and raced to the potty saying, "Don't poop, don't poop, don't poop! Let's poop in the potty!" When I got him there, he had the job partly done, so I put him on the potty and encouraged him to finish on the potty. (Please, please, I'm begging you!)

About that time I heard major commotion from outside the bathroom, so I told Potty Boy to stay on the potty and stepped out to see what was going on. It took me a couple minutes to break up the fight.

When I returned to the bathroom I found Potty Boy was no longer on the potty. And what should have been in the potty was everywhere. There was poop on the potty seat, on the wall, on the bath mat, on the tub, on the stool, and on the sink. There was poop everywhere except where it belonged.

AAAARRRRGH!

I grabbed for the poopy-bottomed, poopy-handed boy and started to clean him up. Then I realized that he had also unrolled the entire roll of toilet paper and put it in the potty.

That's when I heard a crash and laughing from the kitchen. I grabbed the now-clean, but bare-bottomed boy and put him in his crib for a time-out. When I came out of his room I found one of his brothers walking down the hallway chugging half and half straight from the carton. The carton that had been in the fridge.

AAAARRRRGH!

I took the carton away, grabbed the Half and Half Bandit by the hand and followed the trail of liquid back to the kitchen.

Turns out that the safety latch on the fridge had finally given out under excessive pressure. Sloppy joe meat and a trail of tomato-sauce footprints covered the floor.

AAAARRRRGH!

I hollered for a time out and the culprits sat immediately. Which was convenient, since I needed to clean Mr. Footprint's feet.

I told them to STAY RIGHT THERE while I cleaned up the worst of the kitchen floor and got Potty Boy out of his crib.

I sat all three boys on the floor and was about to deliver a stern lecturing about listening to Mommy, not opening the refrigerator, and a few other things when the Half and Half Bandit looked up at me and grinned.

"That was YUMMY, Mommy!"

 And I was forced to send them off to play before they saw me laugh.

© Trippin' Mama 2011

About That Dog...

As if to prove to me that the very last thing we need around here is a dog, my children had the kind of day that had me mopping up the floor multiple times and washing a load of undies and pants before naptime.

Thanks, kids. Message received.

I'm not the only one dealing with puddles (and more!) these days. Check out this blog post from a stay-at-home dad who had one of those days recently. His language is a little PG-13 in spots, but Jeff and I laughed so hard at this that we nearly had accidents of our own.

Here's to a drier tomorrow.

© Trippin' Mama 2011

The Pooper Scooper: A True Story

Note: Names have not been used in an attempt to protect the not-so-innocent. Not that they deserve such consideration, but I am trying to limit the amount of couch time they need in the future. Nice of me, isn't it?

So the other day the boys were running around naked, their new favorite pastime, when one of my precious boys yelled, "Look, Mommy!"

Given recent events around here like the farmer's blow fiasco, I cringe when I hear the words, "Look, Mommy!"

My cringe was well warranted as the next words out of the child's mouth were, "I pooped in the playroom."

Yep. Sure enough, there was a poop on the playroom floor.

"CHILD! Why did you poop on the floor? You were just on the potty five minutes ago!"

As I grabbed paper towels and talked with the perpetrator, one of his brothers came over to inspect the scene.

He said, "I can poop, too!"

And before I could even react, he squatted down and pooped right next to his brother's accident.

My eyes bugged out of my head. I couldn't believe he just did that!

"CHILD! What did you just do? Where does the poopy go? It does not belong on the playroom floor!"

The front of my brain was telling me this was not a good thing. The back of my brain was screaming with laughter.

I cleaned the bottoms. I cleaned the floor. I made the perpetrators tell me that poop goes in the potty. Then I shooed them out of the room so I could laugh.

Thank heavens they didn't exchange a high five after they did the deed. That would have put me right over the edge.
 

© Trippin' Mama 2011

Of Coyotes, Christmas and Children

Time for a quick update.

First, there's no news on the coyote. Apparently someone spotted it in a neighborhood a mile or so south of here. It was acting strangely, just like the one in our neighborhood was, so we assume it's the same one. Either way, Tim the Wildlife Guy hasn't caught it yet. Maybe it went off into the woods and died. We may never know.

Christmas is coming fast! This week I'm pounding out some work before everyone starts leaving for the holidays, and it become impossible to get anyone on the phone. Next week is a whirlwind of my early birthday celebration, two Christmas programs for Amelia (church and school) and probably six other things I'm not remembering right now. We've got most of the Christmas shopping done, so there's just the wrapping to do. Whew!

This weekend Amelia and I baked up some more goodies for some treat boxes for a few people. I'll be posting the recipe for Oreo truffles this week. I wasn't a big fan, but Amelia loved them and Jeff thought they were pretty good. So, that's good enough for me. And, as usual, it's an easy recipe.

Jeff decided that this would be the year the Christmas cards went out BEFORE Christmas. God love him. If it weren't for his commitment to getting those out they really would be Valentine's Day cards. Unfortunately, we ordered some extras online with a coupon for free overnight shipping. That was four days ago and they haven't arrived. Hopefully the customer service folks can sort that out for us tomorrow.

Once we get our cards out to all our friends and family, I'll share it here with you, too.

On the freedom front, we are figuring out what works to give the boys a little more room without driving me crazy trying to keep up with them. We installed a gate to keep them out of the living room -- critical since that also keeps them away from the Christmas tree. And today I texted Jeff my list of childproofing needs. It was a pretty lengthy one.

Unless you've lived it, you can't imagine what three two-year-olds can get into. The other day two boys got into the pantry while I was busy getting someone else out of trouble. They started throwing the little plastic containers of blueberry applesauce and split two of them open all over the kitchen floor, cabinet and refrigerator.

Yep, time to lock that door up!

And just when I think I've removed everything they can use to climb in the playroom, they prove me wrong. Yesterday Isaac got stuck on top of the play kitchen. Later he and Sam were on top of my sewing table behind the TV. Then Isaac climbed out of his crib during a time out. Uh-oh. Crib tents here we come!

I can't keep up. Well I can, but I can't get anything else done in the house and I collapse in exhaustion the second Jeff comes in the door. So, a few changes are in order. Like everything else in tripletdom, we've had to figure out what works best for us. I am looking forward to the day when we aren't living in a maze of baby gates, though it seems we will have to add a few more before we're ready to get rid of them entirely.

Our potty training efforts are going pretty well. The boys mostly stay dry, and we've had a couple moments of major celebration over something else happening on the potty, too. We handed out Tootsie Rolls as rewards. (Don't think about that too much or ewww!) I managed to restrain myself from running through the streets shouting the good news, but barely.

Now it's time to get back to burning my candle at both ends like everyone else in this holiday season!

© Trippin' Mama 2010

Blog? What Blog?

I thought last week was going to be crazy since Jeff was out of town all week. Turns out things have been crazier since he got back.

Our weekend was chock full of getting together with friends, which was fun, but made for a busy weekend. This week I'm putting in some time on my volunteer activities and my job. By Friday I will have put on my grown-up clothes and left the house sans kiddos four times. That's a real change of pace for me, which I love, but there's prep work to do before I go and then catch up to do when I get home, so it adds to the craziness.

Then, of course, there's the self-inflicted craziness of the Halloween costumes, though they've gone together pretty well and are turning out great if I do say so myself. I'm down to the final details on the last one, so almost there! I can't wait to share pics with you. I just hope the kids cooperate.

In and amongst all of that I'm trying to explain to the boys that while I'm happy they are not going potty in their pants, it's still a no-no to pull their pants down and pee on the floor in the playroom.

Never a dull moment around here!

© Trippin' Mama 2010

Potty Training: Please Pass the Neenies!

Warning: Potty update ahead. If you're not interested, then please feel free to come back tomorrow!

We've been at this potty training thing for three months now, and I am quite pleased with our progress to date. We currently have all three boys going on the potty at potty time within a minute or two. This has greatly reduced the time I spend in the bathroom, which is a MAJOR victory for me!

We are rewarding the boys with M&Ms, or "neenies" as the boys call them. They get two for piddling, and we've just started to offer a third M&M if their diaper is still dry when they get to the bathroom. Already they have started to ask, "Still dry?" when I get their diapers off. And they are starting to tell me when they have to go. All of which is very exciting if you've been doing diaper duty times three for almost two years!

I don't have any magic tricks when it comes to potty training triplets. I've just tried to be consistent, though I definitely had days when I could only muster a couple of rounds on the potty. When I was waiting and waiting and waiting for them to go, or they wanted to play instead of potty, it was just too much work for mama!

A lot of people have asked why on earth I would train so young. I did it simply because my boys were ready. The other day Sam walked up to Jeff and say, "Change diaper, Daddy." If they can ask like that, they are more than ready! But, as a fellow triplet mom pointed out, mom has to be ready to potty train too. It's a lot of work, on top of an already crazy life. I just looked at it as a schedule change, adding in a couple rounds at first, and more as they got the hang of things.

The next step for us is training pants, but that will have to wait until after Labor Day. I'm heading out next week for Girls' Weekend with my mom and my sisters, and Daddy's in charge. He'll do great, but there's no need to throw an extra challenge into the mix. After all, I need this trip to go well on the home front so I can leave again before the kids turn 18.

© Trippin' Mama 2010

Life Here In The Commune

Life in the commune continued as usual today. By late afternoon I had three naked boys and one girl clothed just her underwear running around my yard.

In my defense, we had the sprinkler on, and swim diapers are expensive man! Not as expensive as designer poop catchers, but still. I hate paying for them when my kids are just in my yard. Besides, as I learned early on in my journey of motherhood, and often remind myself, urine is sterile. And sunscreen is cheap. But I am grateful for spray sunscreen. It makes taking care of all those bare bottoms a lot easier! 

As for Amelia, she has brothers, so she just wants to wear her "trunks" when I pull out her two-piece swimsuit. (Thanks, Aunt Mary. Didn't consider that, did we?) Undies, swim trunks. It was six of one, half dozen of the other, so why argue?

Actually, being naked in the yard is part of our potty training efforts with the boys. One of the things we've done that seems to have helped is to line the boys up to pee. Alex will go every time, and sometimes Isaac and Sam follow his lead.

We do try to keep in mind that our neighbors are selling their house, so we have the boys pee near our garden instead of their treeline. I'd hate for my potty training efforts to lose them a sale. On the other hand, whoever moves in may as well have a realistic picture of what they are getting into.

Isaac is really starting to make progress on the potty training now. He got M&Ms three times today -- a record for him -- and once he even asked to go and his diaper was still dry. Yay! Alex would go as many times as his mommy would put him on the potty, but some days that's more than others. Now that we've got two out of three taking a lot less time on the potty to get results, maybe I'll get them there more often.

This afternoon I watched Jeff try to get Isaac to pee near the tree just off the deck. I had to laugh because Isaac, true to his training to sit on the potty, kept sitting down on the ground. Thankfully he didn't pee, because while urine might be sterile, mud still makes a big mess.

Tomorrow we've got a playdate, so I guess I'll have to clothe the children for a change...

© Trippin' Mama 2010

Potty Training: The Quest Continues

"So, Christy, how's the potty training going?" you ask.

Oh, you didn't ask?

Well, I'm sure you're dying to know.

No? You're not?

Well you can stop reading here then, because today's post is all about ongoing trials of potty training triplets.

Still with me? What a faithful reader! OK, we'll see how long you stick around.

We've been potty training for six weeks now, and overall I'm pretty pleased with our success. Our diaper use is down a bit, enough that I get a whole extra day's worth out of the Diaper Champ before I have to change the bag. Although that screws me up. I've always had to empty the diapers on Tuesday, and now that it's Wednesday it messes with my head. I know, it doesn't take much.

There's been a bit of a learning curve, of course. I have successfully proven that if you are potty training multiples this young you do not need more than one potty chair, unless you have more than one adult or more than one set of hands. Otherwise all you get is bare-bottomed chaos.

We have also proven that no matter how gross your mother thinks it is when you put your hands or even your head in the toilet, it will not make you sick or kill you. (Note to self: Clean the toilet again today.) 

We have been shown more than once that a child who cannot go on the potty in the course of 20 minutes will pee everywhere if left unattended for more than 30 seconds outside the bathroom. And then he and his brothers will play in it.

We know that M&Ms are an unbelievably good motivator for Alex. I hope they work this well when he's a teenager! If I had just Alex to train, I think he could be fully in trained in just a couple of months. Alas, that is not to be, but he does pretty well and often uses the same diaper from 10 a.m. until bedtime, so yay!

We have learned that even after six weeks, getting to use the potty is fun (for everyone except Mom & Dad, anyway) and it's worth screaming for your turn.

Thankfully the screaming has died down a bit. Unfortunately, since some boys must be given inordinate amounts of time to do their thing, if they go at all, it's not unusual to get to the third boy and find he's given up on waiting. Sorry dude, that's part of life as a triplet I guess.

I really need to switch to training pants, at least for Alex, because I think he would train faster if he felt wet. But I know that will add to my laundry load, so forgive me for being a little reluctant to jump on that train.

Some days we're really vigilant about getting on the potty lots of times. Other days we just try a few times because we're busy playing outside or mama's tired or there are errands to run. What I'm saying is consistency has not factored really heavily into our efforts here. And I think that's just part of doing anything with multiples. You need to be flexible and give yourself a break.

What we're doing works for us. Alex keeps his diapers dry most of the day. Isaac and Sam are still hit and miss, but are asking to go more often now -- sometimes even before they are wet -- so everyone is getting it at their own pace. For me, it's just been another change in the schedule, and I'm used to it now, so we'll keep plugging away until the job is done.

When we've accomplished this task maybe I'll use the diaper funds to redecorate the bathroom. I'm already tired of looking at those same four walls!

© Trippin' Mama 2010

Me and Martha Stewart Are Like This

A few days ago my sister Judy left this comment on my post about making my nifty jewelry holder: "What's this...cooking, potty training and crafts...what are you are trying to be...Martha Stewart?"

I laughed when I read it. Somehow the words "Martha Stewart" and "potty training" just don't seem to go together. I just can't imagine her sitting next to the toilet saying "Winky down," for weeks on end.

Still, it got me thinking about what potty training would look like if Martha Stewart were doing it, instead of me. With apologies to Martha, here's my take on it.

Martha's Way: Make your children's bathroom a place they want to spend time in. Choose a theme and have fun! Stencil an inspirational saying or two on the walls. Make a fun cover for your soap dispenser to fit your theme and encourage your kids to wash their hands.

My Way: Gradually strip your potty training bathroom of everything your kids play with that they shouldn't: toilet paper, toilet brush, wastebasket, and all accessories. Flip the towel ring up so they can't hang on it and rip it out of the wall. Try to remember to wash someone's hands after each potty round. Yours, your kid's, your dog's. Whoever.

Martha's Way: Provide special toys for your children to play with while they are on the toilet. Hand embellished felt puppets can be both entertaining and educational.

My Way: After the first few toys wind up in the potty (because with triplets, sometimes your attention MUST be elsewhere for a second or two), choose toys that are easy to clean and that float. Stay away from sinkers that will require a call to the plumber.

Martha's Way: Bond with your child by making a few delightful picture books to share while toilet training. Select photographs of your child's favorite things and use these beautiful embossed papers to create pages that engage your child.

My Way: Go through your older child's books and garage sale cheapies. Choose those that are already in poor shape or that look the most durable. Bonus points if they float or are waterproof. Because one way or another, those things are going to get wet. 

Martha's Way: Bake up some special treats as a reward for successful attempts on the toilet. I like to make these delicious candies that are chock full of nutritious ingredients like organic beet juice and pureed carrots. Your children will love them, and you'll love knowing they are eating healthy.

My Way: M&Ms, baby! Or neenies, as Alex calls them. No healthful benefits, just straight up sugar. I have a big Mason jar full of them in the cupboard, right next to the hard liquor. Turns out that's just a happy coincidence. Though it is a bit disturbing to see my kids staring hopefully at the cabinet with all the liquor.

Martha's Way: You can accelerate your child's progress by putting him or her in these darling training pants that you can make yourself in a matter of a couple of hours.

My Way: I have to stop you right there, Martha. First, no one potty training multiples has a couple of minutes, let alone a couple of hours. Second, this is the very reason online shopping exists. And Etsy.

Looks like Martha's got nothing to fear from me, at least in the potty training domain. Though I suspect she'd be happy to leave that area of expertise to me.

© Trippin' Mama 2010

I'm Turning Back Into A Teenager

It's like I'm a teenager again. I'm spending hours upon hours in the bathroom, and when I'm not in the bathroom, I'm chasing boys.

We are entering our third week of potty training, which explains the hours upon hours in the bathroom.

And it's summertime and the boys love to be outside, and they can RUN, which explains the chasing boys part.

The potty training is going fairly well. Almost every day at least one of the boys has successfully used the potty once. Some days one of the boys will even use it twice. And one memorable day all three boys earned themselves M&Ms!

But it is incredibly time consuming. I try to get everyone on the potty no fewer than four times a day. Ideally we go first thing in the morning, an hour after getting up, before and after nap (they almost always all wake up dry), before and after supper, and before bed. I try to get them to stay on the potty for a minimum of five minutes, but I'll leave them there for as long as 10 if they are willing. Toss in time to take diapers off, put them back on and wash hands, and it probably takes me an average of 35 minutes to get through one potty cycle.

So I'm spending approximately two to four hours a day either in the bathroom with the boys or very close by. I do have to step out to break up toy fights from time to time. Experience has taught me that this is doable as long as everything is removed from the bathroom - toilet paper, toilet brush, wastebasket, etc. Otherwise, something is going in!

Fortunately I can see the potty from the kitchen so I can do a few small things there while I wait for someone to go. But I have learned that I'd better be right there or someone's going to pee on the floor or stick their hands or head (yes, HEAD) in the potty.

This has drastically altered my days. I find there's a lot more to do at the end of the day, because I don't have as much time to get things done. Throw in another three to five hours outside, and some days all I get done outside of playtime and potty time is feeding the kids.

The boys are definitely getting the concept of going in the potty. If they don't go they tell me "no potty." And if they do go, they immediately start yelling for their M&Ms. Sometimes they will even ask me to use the potty and when we get there I'll discover that they've just gone. So they are getting the concept, which is encouraging. The thought of not spending money on diapers is encouraging, too!

In a couple more weeks I'm going to switch the boys to training pants and see how that moves things along. Yes, that will add to the laundry, but it will be cheaper than pullups and I'm hoping the discomfort of feeling the wet will help things along, too.

So far, all I've learned about potty training triplets is this: never try more than one at a time, just be patient, and keep the carpet cleaner handy.

© Trippin' Mama 2010

Why Do We Keep The M&Ms Next To The Liquor?

It's a good thing diapers are expensive, or I just might decide it's not worth potty training at all. The potty training chronicles are still to come, but I'm too worn out tonight to give you the full run down.

The boys are all still enthusiastic. But somewhere around the 462nd time I put a small boy on the potty today I realized we keep our M&Ms (the reward for using the potty) WAAAY to close to the hard liquor. I may deserve a medal for not having a shot today.

After many, many, many, many attempts, we had one success. But overall, they are doing well. We've been at this for five days and everyone has gone in the potty or partially in the potty at least once. And my bathroom floor is exceptionally clean right now.

Today was a big day because no one peed on the floor, which seems to be the exception rather than the rule around here lately. On the plus side, my boys have all decided they love to wash their hands. Which is good, because they put their hands in the potty today more times than I can count. Yuck.

Yesterday did not go quite as well. I had a moment of poor judgment brought on by exhaustion just before bedtime. I made two critical errors back-to-back. First, I took a boy off the potty after no result and put him in the playroom with no diaper on because the other two were screaming for a turn on the potty. Then I put both boys who had been waiting on the potty at the same time. One on the big potty and one on the little potty.

I tried two at the same time before and one mom just doesn't have enough hands for that. The first time I tried it Alex put half a roll of toilet paper in the toilet before I could stop him. While I dealt with that, Sam got off the potty and peed all over the floor, then played in it.

But I digress. The point is that I know better than to put two on the potty at the same time.

About two minutes into entertaining the two on the potty to keep them still long enough for something to happen, I heard a shout from the playroom: "MOM! Piggies! Poopy! Piggies! Poopy!

I leapt up and ran around the corner to find one of my boys stomping his foot in the poop on the floor. Ugh!

I grabbed him and wiped the worst of it from between his toes while yelling at the other two boys to stay on the potty. Then I threw the poopy one in the crib in the playroom and ran back to the bathroom. Fortunately, no one had wandered off or peed everywhere. But Alex had his hand in the potty and Sam was "drinking" from the little potty seat, which fortunately had nothing in it.

I still had a poopy boy to deal with, so I grabbed the other two and took them to their beds. I diapered them quickly (See, I learned something!) and went back to diaper and clean up the culprit. I had no clean place to put him, so he went into his crib as well. I spent 10 minutes cleaning the carpet, the crib and the changing table while the boys laughed and partied in the nursery.

Not our best potty training moment, to be sure. I hope it turns out to be the worst. I don't want to think about how much worse it could get than that.

I'm finding that potty training more than one at a time can be something of a logistics problem, like so many other things in the life of a parent of multiples. Hopefully I've gotten most of the rookie mistakes out of my system now!

Just keep repeating with me: Diapers are expensive. Diapers are expensive. Diapers are expensive.

And carpet can be replaced.

© Trippin' Mama 2010

What A Difference The "Plus One" Makes!

Amelia has been gone for the last few days visiting grandparents, and her absence has made two things abundantly clear. One, I miss her more than I can stand. And two, triplets plus one is WAAAAY more work than triplets alone.

I always knew that having Amelia and the boys was more work than just having the boys, but Amelia's been gone three days and it's really become evident what a difference that extra child makes. Fewer toys to clean up, less laundry (marginally, but still), and one less person to help dress, feed, bathe, and put to bed. At four, Amelia can do lots of things for herself, so I always thought the difference would be negligible now. It isn't.

One of the chief reasons there's such a big difference is all of the play time, crafts and questions. Shoot, the lack of questions alone gives me an extra couple hours in my day. Of course the trade off is that my brain is stagnating while Amelia's gone. And I am starting to miss playing My Little Ponies. (Did I just confess that?)

I've tried to use the extra time wisely, tackling some projects I can't usually get to, like sorting through toys and clothes. Since the boys go to bed a whole hour earlier than Amelia, I have found I can work on a project for a couple hours and still go to bed around 10. That's at least an hour earlier than usual. I think my body has appreciated the extra sleep.

Most of my "extra" time is going to one BIG project, though: potty training. Yep, that's right. We have taken the plunge, so to speak. The boys were all showing signs of being ready, so I'm going for it. And taking notes along the way, so stay tuned for the Potty Training Chronicles in the days to come.

For now, let me just say that we've had some success, some hilarity, and only a few fits. Most of the fits were thrown by the boys. At least until Alex flushed half a roll of toilet paper while I was running a peeing Sam to the other potty and yelling at Isaac not to play in the pee that was all over the playroom floor. I know you can't wait to read all about it.

Hurry home Amelia! Mommy misses you. Especially since you can use the potty all by yourself.

© Trippin' Mama 2010