Disappearing Unicorns....

This post may be graphic, if you do not wish to read about butts, stop here!

The great potty training escapade had taken a turn for the worse. AJ was doing pretty well, staying dry at daycare, doing well with undies at home, telling us when she had to go potty... and then it stopped. After two weeks of broken down open butt again, AJ had regressed back to hardly using the potty at all. And really who could blame her. Sore butt, crying in fear that it would hurt every time she had to be changed. Holding things in because she didnt want it to hurt. After some butt meds, her butt healed and she started working back to going on the potty here and there kind of off and on but not as well as she had been and sometimes intentionally wouldnt go on the potty. Then we went out of town and for some reason she turned the other direction and didnt poop for a week which also set her back and all of her potty training went to pot. No pottying on the potty, refusal to attempt to poop, and backed up! So miralax, two suppositories, an x-ray, and an enema later she finally started pooping again. We were at the point where we needed to decide to give her a break and not work on potty training or keep going and hope she got back on the right track. I was leaning toward giving her a few week break and just letting her lead (vs asking her to go on the potty or asking if she had to go). Then in the evening she pottied a bunch of times. So forward we went.

We happend to be at Walmart yesterday and she saw this 5$ unicorn backpack that she instantly fell in love with (more than any other random thing she thinks she may need). So I told her if she stayed dry a whole day at daycare and at home that she could get the unicorn backpack. Well she obviously really wanted it! Today she stayed dry at daycare, came home, put undies on and stayed dry all evening. I told her when she came home that if she stayed dry till Ty went to bed that we would go get her backpack. She did it! She was great! So off to Walmart we went (wearing undies even).

Now remember we were just there YESTERDAY! So we went right to the area where they were and WHAT, they weren't there! UGH (insert teary toddler here). So we asked an employee who was less than helpful. We scoured the store looking at the other backpacks that were still hung in their spot; none there. Looked by purses, shoes, searched the clearance isles, checked the sporting area, the toy area, the office supply area...... nothing. Talked to two other store employees who were a bit more helpful but nothing. (Insert very sad toddler here.) Went back to the little girls area where she saw Ariel PJ's so I told her we could get the PJ's and order the backpack. How are you supposed to reward something without an instant gratification (not that we are going to buy her something every time she stays dry but thought it might be incentive enough to jump start her back on the right track). So we got the PJ's an she was still very sad. We called the other walmart in town, nope no unicorn backpacks. So we looked online and do you think I could find a cheap (under 20$) unicorn backpack (you know plasticy cheap, white giant unicorn on the front).... nope! Couldn't find one anywhere. So I told her we could go to Target and see if they had a different one.

So off to target, while wearing said new Ariel PJs, looked at their clearance back to school backpacks.... nothing good enough... went to luggage...nope... and then on the end of an isle with a few little kid backpacks it happened. Kai Lan! Not a white unicorn but she liked it better than all the princess ones, fairy ones, and other random ones we saw along the way. And so we gave in. Spent 3 time what we would have (granted 15 isnt the end of the world but not what I was planning for a cheapo potty gift) and left with a substitute Kai Lan red sparkly glitter backpack. She knows that we probably wont find that perfect white unicorn backpack and I can tell she is sad although enjoying her new backpack. So if anyone sees a random white unicorn backpack, text me immediately and I'll go buy it for her!

It seems trivial but there isn't much that she gets SO super excited for and this silly little backpack was something that was going to completely make her day and it was so sad watching her try to process how they possibly couldn't have one when we just saw it there yesterday.

Hopefully she continues on her potty journey, although next time she is promised something I will have already bought it and have it in the house before offering it!