The Charts

Joy has been a member of the Potty-Trained Club for a few months now, but when she was first starting out she seemed somewhat indifferent to the whole process. In an effort to motivate her, I printed up a little chart she could put stickers on each time she successfully used the toilet. Suddenly she was in that bathroom two or three times an hour.

When Phillip noticed the chart, he asked what she would receive when she filled it all up. I replied that she'd get the satisfaction of having put a lot of stickers on some paper. If that makes her happy, why add sugar or some other reward to the mix?

Joy quickly ran out of space on her chart, and when we were out visiting Pink Grandma a few weeks ago she gave Joy a new piece of paper with a sticker on it to celebrate a successful bathroom visit there. That paper is now nearly covered in stickers (most of them courtesy of the generous cashiers at Trader Joe's).

I occasionally consider when we might want to put an end to the bathroom=sticker routine, but since Joy's having fun with it and it costs nothing I'm happy let it continue for now. Ah, the simple pleasures of life.