Oh the Joys of Toddlerhood...

Quick background - We are potty training...the end is in site & our son LOVES stickers and tape ( I mean LOVES them).

So lately we have been rewarding him with a sticker only when he tells us he has to go - 1 for #1 and 2 for #2...seems like a fair system. We would grab a sheet or two from the dollar bin at Target and away we go. Well the other night while Matthew was running an errand and I was putting Patrick to bed. I told him if he was really good that daddy was going to bring him some new stickers for in the morning. (We were out by the way.) Matthew ran by Target and picked up a bucket of 500 letter and number stickers. Now Matthew thought this would be a great way of teaching Patrick his letters and numbers while also rewarding him. So fast forward to 10:15 that night...all is asleep in our household. I hear pitter patter of feet and then a sweet little voice - "Mommy I need to go potty." So I get up and we go. His pull up was dry and we went. I go to the kitchen and pull out two stickers (because he woke himself up and came to tell us all while not having an accident). Off to bed we go. Around 11:30 Matthew hears pitter patter and awakes to find Patrick with one foot out of his zipper footy pj's and his hands covered in stickers. The boy remembered where they were (mom left them too close to the edge of the counter). When asked why his foot was out of his pj's he simply said "I need to go potty." Apparently he gave up on getting undressed (the other leg is a little difficult) and decided forget it I tried so I am getting me some stickers. He would wake up about once an hour saying he needed to go - this continued till 2:30 in the morning. The boy was smart and figured out - hey I tell them I got to go potty, potty, and then I get stickers.

Mom and Dad did learn a lesson - no stickers at night.

Love
LeAnna, Matthew, and Patrick