Bribe Them With Chocolate

Today marks a special milestone for Katie.

About two weeks ago we bought a huge Easter egg for Katie which we set on top of the fridge. It was a special red egg all boxed up. We told her she was free to eat that egg any time - on one condition. She was to do a number two in the toilet. Not in her nappy but in the toilet. Like all big boys and girls do. We repeated this to her every time she asked about the egg and she absolutely understood what she needed to do. In fact each time she mentioned the “big choccat egg” we asked her what she had to do to be able to eat it, and she promptly answered “do poo poo in toilet”.

Well it’s been an interesting two weeks. I think the whole process is a very frightening one for a two and a half year old. Day-time number ones have been sorted but it was taking a while to get to the next stage. The chocolate was a good enough bribe but Katie still waited until her nappy was on at nap times and at nights. I eventually told her mummy would just eat the egg in the end. That was this morning.

Without going into unnecessary detail, except to say it had been a few days since a dirty nappy, we had a winner. There were a few tears – it is a horrid ordeal to go through at first – but she tucked into a nice bowl of chocolate and told auntie and grandpa all about it on the phone later.

But maybe I shouldn’t get too excited. Katie has come downstairs up from her nap along with the familiar scent that signals a nappy change is in order. Guess I’ll be buying more chocolate – for Katie of course.