Potty Pandemonium

I have three kids. I have successfully helped two of them learn to use the potty. The third one is almost there. He’s just in the stubborn “NO WANNA GO PEEPEE!” stage which has little to do with actually knowing the mechanics of peeing.

I’ve tried my fair share of potty seats.

This was our first. I got it because, though I loathe Dora, I thought Dora would be fun and exciting and encourage sitting on the potty. Not so much. Peeing on Dora was SCARY. Also, it tipped over easily, fell apart, got the parts carried about, etc... all of which resulted in spilled pee. And "I do it myself!!!" when "it" is dumping pee into the toilet never ends well. So Dora got shoved into a closet.

Then we tried this one:

It didn't fall apart as easily but still came apart too easily. It also comes with a penis guard for boys. Except the lid doesn't close when that is on, and the lid was annoying, so we chucked it pretty quickly. It empties by pulling a bucket from the back. That prevented some spills, but you also had to make very sure it was put back in just so or the next pee would not go entirely in the bucket. A toddler cannot do that, so we ended up with a lot of pee on the carpet, and that sucked. It also has lots of parts and edges to wash.

We also had this:

In addition to slipping around too much, resulting in several incidents of falling in the toilet, it pinched thighs and testicles on more than one occasion. We discontinued use.

Eventually we settled on this one:

It's okay, but it does slip around on the toilet, so it's more difficult for kids to climb on without falling in the toilet. Also, way more pee than you'd imagine gets between the white and the blue part, and that's really, really disgusting. Same is true for licensed character versions of this same seat. We also had a cheap dollar store version of this seat:

It had no handles (handles were kinda useless anyway) and worked about the same. However, it was made of flimsier plastic that slid around on the toilet even worse and, when warm, slowly collapsed into the toilet when sat on. Caboodle 3 was not impressed.

We even tried something like this:

So then we found this one:

Bumbo makes a potty seat! This thing is frickin' awesome! It's heavy enough to stay on the toilet seat and not move around, even on our elongated seat. It's sturdy enough that it doesn't collapse into the toilet. It is all one piece. I can easily rinse it off in the bathtub after the kids are done and it's good to go. It has a penis guard. It has a little bit of back support for extra comfort during those long waits for something to come out. 

Caboodle 3 was able to easily climb on and off on his own, and it helped him to develop enough confidence that now he can easily use the toilet without any extra device, without falling in. I think it would also provide some extra support for kids with gross motor delays and low muscle tone issues.

It's fun! And comfy!

A little privacy, please!

Cheap hands off fun at Nanaimo Museum

The Caboodle kids are fairly untamed and I don't often take them out in public. I was kind of stuck today, though, because Caboodle 3 and Daddy fell asleep for a nap and I didn't want the other two to wake him up. Luckily, after a lengthy church picnic (free lunch I didn't cook - score!), a friend with similar child entertaining needs invited us to come to the library with her. So I packed up some snacks and away we went downtown.

The library sucked about an hour of time. Caboodle 1 spent most of her time on the computer while Caboodle 2 kept bringing me some pretty cool non-fiction books to look at. We ended up with a tornado book and a race car book before Caboodle 2 started begging for the museum. How can you deny a kid who is literally begging you for a educational, cultural experience? You can't.

An eager teacher.

I love the Nanaimo Museum. It's small enough to not be overwhelming, and for my kids at least there was plenty to keep their attention. It's never been busy when we've been there, so it's not as embarrassing when my kids get obnoxiously loud. We did a scavenger hunt, blew the mine whistle, and listened to some miner stories before winding up in the old fashioned school room.

The museum gives kids adventure backpacks that contain, to an adult, pretty boring stuff. There's a bag of blocks, a puzzle, binoculars, and a magnifying glass. We spent a whole other hour in the museum, if not more. They even have costumes for some pretty rad cosplay. The adults mostly kicked back and watched as the Caboodle kids and their friend played school and displayed some surprisingly good penmanship for ages 6 and 5.

Two diligent students.

It's a cheap date, too. Just $2 for adults, 75 cents for kids 6+, and free for kids under 5. The excursion would have cost us just $2.75, except I found some nifty building kits in the gift shop for $6.25 each.

I managed to skip out on Caboodle 1's alphabet lesson and check out the museum's current exhibit - Art Deco fashions from the 20s and 30s. Yummy Downton Abbey-esque dresses for women with small breasts, no stomach, and no hips. Pretty interesting silhouette considering the times immediately before and after the period where breasts and child-bearing hips were fashionable. Nonetheless, I love period fashion so I was able to suspend disbelief and imagine myself in the dresses. The lack of a mirror definitely helped.