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Once Upon a Potty
by Alona Frankel
Around
18 - 20 months of age, Elizabeth started to show signs of
being ready for potty training. She told me when her diaper
was dirty and she wanted it changed. She knew that kitty
litter box was the place where the cats would go pee-pee
and poo-poo. She followed me into the bathroom and bombarded
me with questions about what I was doing. She liked to flush
the toilet and wash her hands with me. I decided that even
though she was on the young side, it was time to follow
her lead and think about potty training.
Alona
Frankel's book "Once Upon a Potty for Her" with the companion
video by the same name seemed to be a good choice to start
with. I immediately bought the book, the video, and a molded
plastic potty from Baby Bjorn that
matched the potty in the video. Elizabeth and I took our
new possessions home and started to "play" right away.
Frankel
wrote "Once Upon a Potty" for her son when she toilet training
him. There are two versions of the book—one for HER and one for HIM. But, the stories are basically the same.
"Once
Upon a Potty for Her" stars Prudence—a little girl.
Prudence's mother tells the story. We learn that Prudence
wears a diaper and her mother changes the diaper. Prudence
has been wearing a diaper since she was just born. One day,
Prudence's grandmother gives her a big present. It contains
a strange object. We have to figure out what it is... it's
not a flower vase, a birdbath, a cat bowl, or even a hat.
It's a potty! Prudence has a few false starts and a few
near misses, but eventually she learns to use her potty.
The
video has a cartoon version of the same story with two exceptions—in
the video Prudence's father also helps change her diaper
and there is an extended sequence in the video about all
the great things Prudence has learned to do with her body.
The video also contains a music video of "The Potty Song."
This is a cute video with live babies sitting on potties,
walking, dancing, and having a good time. The song is also
pretty catchy and Elizabeth has watched the video so many
times I now dream about it. The video also contains a segment
for parents with potty training tips and information.
We
started with the potty in the family room. She enjoyed sitting
on the potty while watching her potty movie. Sometimes she
sat on it with her diaper on and sometimes her diaper was
off. She really liked to imitate the kids on the video.
The one bad part of this imitation—the kids on the
video are naked. So we went through a period where Elizabeth
thought she has to be naked to use the potty.
Elizabeth
watched the video and read her book. A couple of times Elizabeth
went pee or poo in her potty, but not much happened. Then
after several months, Elizabeth announced that she wanted
to wear big girl panties - and that was that. She was potty
trained. I can't guarantee this kind of success with every
child, but all I had to do was buy the book and video and
she did the rest.
The
two best parts of "Once Upon a Potty" are the emphasis they
place on personal satisfaction from achieving goals and
the greatness and wonder we can find in our own bodies.
Prudence learns to do lots of things with her body and using
the potty is just one of them. Prudence has a great and
wonderful body and so do each of us.
To Purchase for boys:
• Once Upon a Potty for boys at Amazon.com
• Once Upon a Potty for boys at Amazon.ca (Canada)
• Once Upon a Potty for boys at Amazon.UK
To Purchase for girls:
• Once Upon a Potty for girls at Amazon.com
• Once Upon a Potty for girls at Amazon.ca (Canada)
• Once Upon a Potty for girls at Amazon.UK
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