Hi there,
I am new to this forum but sooooo need to vent about potty training. I am frustrated at the age (and now mine is showing) that children are expected to be potty trained! 3!?! 4!?! For as many years as it has been tracked ... like hundreds ... children have been basically toilet trained by 2 yrs. old ... until 2002 ... (Is that when "Pull-Ups" became popular?) Any way none of us are emotionally scarred by being able to pee/poop in a pot by the time we were two!!!
For 4 years I have had a childcare in my home the kids were trained before they turned 3 yo. But now I have 2 kids that are pushing 4 yo they no longer fit on a changing table! Parent participation is intermittent at best ... too busy ... too stressed ... too whatever. I have always said jokingly "Trained by 4 or out the door" ... So yesterday a 3 1/2 yo boy I care for sat on the pot crying ... I said why are you crying ... I don't wanna poop (no he's not constipated). So I said oh silly boy, everybody goes potty you don't need to cry, just push it out quickly and be all done, just like dad and mom etc. 5 min later he has poop smeared all over both hands, both legs and most of the toilet seat. We cleaned him up and everything up. Later on he's on the toilet again ... some poop already in pants and when I put him on the pot his hands went right in between his legs and off the cuff I stupidly say, (again my generation showing), "Do you know what a spanking is?? Because that's what happens when we play and make a big mess with our poop". I of course don't spank ever, I just wanted to make an impression on him. Well the results were mixed ... A. He pooped in the toilet ... no half hour wait, no crying! B. He told his folks I was going to spank him ... UGH PROBLEM!!! This morning I end up apologizing to him and his mom and feeling really stupid! Thing is I am still pissed off that people don't train their kids ... pissed off that when the "Pull-Ups" are pulled down that adult size, smelly poop is spilled all over the floor, still pissed off that is deemed better, convenient and more efficient to put your child in a diaper to go to the MALL ... ok honey just piss and crap all over yourself ... mommy wants to shop uninterrupted!!!!!! I honestly think it is neglectful to not train your child and expect others to do this for you. ... frustrated and feeling stupid!!!

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