Pee and Poo- Crazy Potty Training Tactics for the Obsessed Parent

Was it always this difficult? What did parents do years ago when it came time to potty train a toddler? There were no singing toilets, books about poop, or pee and poo dolls. Yes, pee and poo dolls. In case you don’t believe me, read on.

A Swedish company has made a living designing plush toys designed like Pee and Poo. They are cute yes, but a little creepy too. Not only that, but the company offers onesies, underwear, and even Internet wallpaper with Pee and Poo pals smiling at you. Is this a clever marketing idea or a sign that our child centered parenting has gone a little too far?

Potty training (among other things) has been a regular part of child-rearing. It was fraught with spills and accidents and problems, but parents figured it out. How many adults do you know who still wear diapers? See, exactly my point. But as the world keeps turning, apparently potty training is increasing in difficulty as the years go on- and now we are in desperate need of potty training products to help our children figure out this baffling concept. Worse still, parents must be getting more stupid as time goes on- for parents didn't need all this stuff twenty years ago.

• Singing potty- it’s not enough to simply tell your little Suzy or Johnny, “good job!” No, now you need to have a toilet sing an opera in your ear when your crap hits the bowl. Do you think perhaps the next generation’s children will have an inflated self-esteem?
• Potty books- Growing up I knew of one called, Once Upon a Potty. I’ll admit- I did like to stare at the picture of poop. It was edgy to have a book like that when I was two. Not anymore. Now there are books like Everyone Poops, Where's the Poop?, etc.
• Potty entertainment- A magazine thrown on the back of the toilet doesn’t cut it for modern Americans. Now we need to golf while pooping. Is it any wonder our kids need a constant stream of entertainment?

Then we have potty watches, potty charts, potty stickers, peeing dolls, peeing Elmo, pooping stuffed animals. It’s a wonder our kids don’t grow up thinking that discussion about bathroom habits isn’t acceptable for chatting it up with your neighbor in line at the grocery store.

The truth is that children rise to the occasion more often than not. Dumbing things down with cheap tricks and gimmicks does not give them a chance to work and succeed. Glitzy toys and products become the motive for doing a good job and replace the internal sense of achievement at learning a new skill. What about letting the child “feel” good about his/her progress?

Don’t misunderstand my point. I potty trained three children and had my fair share of problems, questions, and anxieties. I carried a small potty in my car for those urgent needs and bought cute underwear. We don’t have to grin and bear it with an outhouse and tree bark as toilet paper. But we need to question the not so subtle influence the capitalist world and marketing has on our subconscious- telling us we need to have this or that to get our child to poop.

Empowering parents to empower children is the secret. You as the parent WILL teach your child how to toilet train and I promise that child will not be an adult in diapers. No pee and poo dolls necessary.

If you still need a little help getting Johnny to poop, there are some funny books out there. I put potty training books in a different category than products because reading to your child is ALWAYS a good idea, no matter what the topic. If you have a hesitant reader or a hesitant pooper, a book about the bathroom might just be what the doctor ordered!

I do have to give credit to the hubber who inspired this article, SantaCruz. She did a review of the most expensive items on Amazon and on it was a $10,000 singing toilet for adults. It inspired my brain to delve more deeply into the psyche of American's obsession with bathroom habits. Thanks SantaCruz!