bribery and sam

We've been reduced to bribing Alec to use the potty. We've got "number 1" down but he still refuses to do "number 2" in the bathroom. I just don't know what else to do. I mean, he's already three years old! Sheesh! I notice what time he usually does and have been sitting him on the potty at about that time to no avail. He won't "go" until he's off and wearing the pull-ups. A week ago, he went once and we made a pretty big deal. We'd promised him we'd take him to Chuck E. Cheese's, so we had to keep our end of the bargain. Ever since that day, he asks if we're taking him again if he uses the bathroom. Groan. So it had been a week and still nothing so we bought him a whole bunch of Hot Wheels cars, let him see them and hold them. Then I placed them all on top of the mirror on the bathroom and told him he could have one each time he poops in the potty. He cried. After that he was trying to climb and figure out a way to get them.

We just don't know what else to do. If you know any tips, please share.

Now let me tell you about Sam. Sam is Brianna's classroom's mascot. He is an old stuffed bear. Each Friday Sam picks a kid to go home with for the weekend and sits under that kid's chair waiting. Brianna had been disappointed that Sam hadn't chosen her. Well, he chose her this past Friday. The catch? Last Friday was the last day before Fall Break (they're on a year-round schedule). That's right. We now have Sam here for three whole weeks. He has been going with us EVERYWHERE complete with travel basket. He even went to cheer camp this past Saturday. Get this, he has his own chair now at our dinner table. It's quite cute, really, but now Brianna wants to make a scrapbook titled "Sam's Fall Break". I have so many pictures of Sam now, you'd think he was a new child. Sam also comes with a journal that each kid must write in about the time Sam spent at their home. Each kid has taken a page per day so I'm scared about how much Brianna is going to want to write about in three weeks. I'll keep you posted on this. Have a great week!

Here's Sam trying to eat a whole cake.


feeling: I didn't get enough sleep
listening to: