Joshua: Dressing and Toileting
by Cathy Butcher

I remember the toilet training stage as being very frustrating, until I
realized that I must remain patient and use lots of positive feedback.  We
made our biggest gains with a calendar and stickers.  Joshua and I made the
calendar together and he picked out the stickers and we used a magnet and
put it on the fridge at his eye level. We showed Dad his accomplishments
when he arrived home from work.  Joshua took it to the daycare and to
Grandma and Grandpa's house.  We looked at it and praised him. He had a
visual reminder which I believe was the real key to his success.

More recently, we had difficulty keeping him focused while getting him
dressed until we started using the following strategies.  We write him a
step by step list.  If he forgets about it, then we play a little game for
each step, for example "Can you get your sock on before I count to 10?".
If I'm busy with the baby and I don't have time for counting, then I make
it a race between him and whatever I happen to be doing with the baby, for
example, "Can you get dressed before Caroline finishes eating?  On your
mark, get, set, GO!"  This works for Joshua 99% of the time!