You cannot force a toddler to do something. Can’t get them to try something. Can’t get them to consider something- if they don’t want to. Caroline is as stubborn as it gets. I have to find a way to motivate her or wait for her to be interested on her own.
Especially when it comes to doing things on her own…
“Mama, will you get me a purple potty seat and stool?”
“You want a purple potty seat and a purple stool? Oh, sure! What a great idea! If you can start practicing taking your pants down, getting up on the toilet, and wiping all on your own, I’ll get you one for the bathroom next to the playroom. Great idea, Caroline.”
I make it her idea at times and trick her into trying new things LOL That works, sometimes.
That particular instance worked really well. Our daughter, who previously would throw an all out fit if we so much as asked her to try and pull her own pants down, decided to start trying.
She felt like it was her idea, which was key. She was pulling her pants down, stepping up on the stool, turning around, sitting on her potty seat, and even trying to wipe on her own. I call that a success!
Then she decided she was over it. Then we moved. Things got disrupted.
Suddenly, she’s become very independent with certain things and very helpful. She left the room and threw a tissue away without being asked to do so. We weren’t sure what she was doing at first, and actually thought she was going potty on her own.
When she came back we praised her. She then mentioned that she had to go potty. So, I took the opportunity to say she could totally go do it on her own. “Okay!”
She ran into the bathroom, put the potty seat on, climbed up the stool and went potty with no one around! First time she’d done that all on her own. She wiped and then called me in to check her to see if she’d gotten everything dry.
I checked. She then washed her hands all on her own with no help. We were soooo proud.
Toddlers are so incredible. Incredibly frustrating when they wont try something, and then incredibly amazing when they put their minds to something and do so well. Our big 3.5 year old is growing up so fast. Lately she’s been losing more and more of the baby look and growing into her big kid look. And she’s certainly acquired so many big girl behaviors.
She helps me to make breakfast in the morning. She’s a pro at calming down now… rarely do we have long draw out fits anymore. She tackles things that she is nervous about. She does so much on her own. She’s even pouring her own cereal in the mornings now, and asking for help with the milk.
She prefers using normal adult sized utensils, and we certainly don’t mind because she’s pretty good at it. She cleans up all of her toys on her own, and does a great job. She helps with laundry, and helps me with the dog. She is loving doing so much and it’s so great to see. She’s mastered riding her tricycle and she’s more focused than some adults when it comes to her classes!
She compromises, and she takes care of us. She’s so loving and such a wonderful person. It is just so much fun watching her grow up.
-Katrina