The Forsyths in 2021

A few years ago, in lieu of Christmas cards, I wrote a little update on where our family was, what we were up to and our highlights from the year. Since then, I’ve still not sent any Christmas cards, but also ended up forgetting the update too – how very ‘Martha’ – haha!

Anyway! Thanks to the lovely extended days off this year (how awesome is a Monday bank holiday 2 days AFTER new year?!) I’ve got some time to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and babble on in a meandering soliloquy that you are very welcome to read if you fancy.

So, without further ado, here’s a little summary for each member of the family:

Adam

Our favourite Mackem has been working at Transform Hospital Group as their Digital Marketing Manager for nearly 2 years now. He started on 23^rd March – the DAY lockdown started!! So he’s been working remotely the whole time. Since then, his team ended up moving from Manchester to Glasgow, so now he has the occasional trip across the border to meet with the rest of the team.

He’s still very much into fitness – having completed P90X, Insanity and all those types of things, and is impressively focussed when he wants to eat healthily. During the summer we had a race to lose ½ stone and he beat me (and then lost another ½ stone!) and the winning prize he chose was a 3 night trip to Majorca! We all went along though, so I wasn’t overly upset that he won!

His infectious cheekiness and sense of fun is still as alive as it ever was, and everyone loves being with him. My mum regularly lets me know what a lovely husband I have and what an amazing daddy the boys have, and I do happen to agree with her actually… 😊

Martha

I had a bit of a change around with work this year. I left HSL in August 2020 after a challenging time during early Covid, and ended up working with Adam at Transform for 10 months! We were sat next to each other (I mean… we were sat at home at the end of the dining room, but we were also on all the same Marketing meetings etc haha!)

I actually loved working with him, but the role itself wasn’t what I’d hoped and when my old manager got in touch to ask whether I’d consider coming back to HSL – with a nice promotion (I went from Communications Exec to Communications Manager) I thought, why not? I’ve enjoyed being back with some familiar faces (though a lot of the original crew aren’t there anymore and I do miss them), and have enjoyed stretching my creative writing side again.

I still love to bake, go on walks, and have started reading more again. I want to carry that through into 2022 and am going to challenge myself to read at least 1 book a month (I know that doesn’t sound a lot, but I think I read a sum total of about 3 books in 2020!)

Josh(ua)

Josh (he stopped being Joshie a couple years ago *sob*) is now in Year 5 at school and is (overall) enjoying it. He went on his first residential in September and had an absolute BALL! He loved every minute.

His favourite subjects are history and geography and he says he wants to be an archaeologist when he grows up. He was particularly pleased this year when we went to visit my Auntie Jane near Norwich, and he heard that she’d been excavating some Roman ruins, and not only that… but that the Celtic Warrior Boudicca had walked the very walk that we went on together!

He’s a very sociable boy and is very caring and aware of people’s feelings (most the time). His teachers say he’s always the first one there when people are upset or have hurt themselves and will try to help wherever he can.  

Joey

Joey – our very own baby kangaroo (!) is his usual amazing self. He lives life at 100 miles an hour, but is also very sweet and gives the biggest hugs – not just a quick squeeze and he’s off – no, he holds on for as long as time allows.

He began an SEN referral in Autumn 2019 and this year we finally had his assessment and diagnosis – autism and ADHD. I know not everyone is in favour of having a diagnosis (or ‘label’) but I’m so glad that we went through the process. It’s helped us and his teachers understand his unique way of seeing the world a little better. He’s not severely autistic thankfully, but it shows itself in ways that you wouldn’t always realise (if you’re interested, I’m happy to discuss privately, but I won’t put it here for all to see 😊 ).

He loves all things Pokemon and is incredibly impressive in his ability to retain information about them. He’s a keen artist and loves to tell us how talented he is 😊 He’s also his happiest when out in the wilds – going for a walk with our Joey is always an adventure and I’m sure he takes about 3x the number of steps as we do as he whizzes around like a puppy discovering trees for the first time.

Our 2021 top 10 (in no particular order – just as they pop into my mind!)

1. Our trip to Dubai (the Atlantis Water Park was particularly incredible)

2. The last minute, spur of the moment 3 night holiday to Majorca – after so many cancelled holidays it was AMAZING. 

3.     Our bathroom makeovers – particularly our on-suite – sooo beautiful! (we moved to a new house in Nov 2020)

4. Visiting the tank museum in Norwich (we had a week in a caravan there, but the tank museum was probably Adam and the boys’ favourite thing that year up to that point)

5.    The boys starting Karate classes (Adam’s quite jealous!)

6. Visiting Stonehenge for the first time (I know it’s just a pile of rocks, but it felt so special for all of us)

7.  Finding new walks in and around Roberttown – we really love being in such a lovely little Yorkshire village that is situated in so much countryside. 

8.  Completing our paint by numbers geek wall (honestly, it sounds juvenile, but paint by numbers is exactly the kind of mindfulness malarkey that works for us)

9. A caravan holiday to Cornwall with the Smith family. Lovely to spend time with them, and bonus – this year Joey didn’t break an ankle! (He fell over on a crazy golf course and ended up in a moon boot on our first Cornwall excursion in 2020!) 

10. Adam’s 2021 birthday cake… honestly, it was something else!! Eton Mess inspired – Victoria sponge cake layers, sandwiched with Chantilly cream, strawberries, blueberries and crushed meringue. Smothered in slightly salted ganache and decorated with assorted fruit, more meringue and a white chocolate shard. 

That’s all folks! I hope you are all well and looking forward to 2022!

 Lots of love to family and friends near and far.

 

From

Martha, Adam, Josh & Joey xx

The Forsyths in 2017

Hi all,
So last year I did a little newsletter type update on here, and I think it's always a nice way to look back and reflect on the 12 previous months - the ups and downs, the good times and the bad, the fun and the heartache... I sound like I'm writing wedding vows!
Anywho, I'll get right into it...

Overall
We've had a very busy year... we started off in Redditch, Adam at Superdream, me at Tesco, Josh at a local lovely school, and Joey at a little pre-school that he enjoyed. We've now ended the year 100 miles North, in a wonderful old town called Mirfield in West Yorkshire, and it's all change on our work/education.
In around March time, we felt like it was time that we make the move that we were planning for "some time in the future" - I'd always loved Yorkshire (having spent many a happy childhood time at some family friends' house in... or near... Meltham), a number of Adam's family members live here, and we loved all the rolling countryside and small towns/villages. We also knew that there was a lot of work for Adam's line of work in Leeds and Manchester... so the logical route for us eventually, was to move up here.
Originally, we'd thought we'd do it at some point before Josh started secondary school, but a number of reasons (I won't go into it here) meant that we felt prompted to look into the idea of moving earlier than planned. Once we started the process of dipping our toe into it, it all rolled very quickly! Adam was offered a job within a few weeks of reaching out to a couple of recruiters, the house sold within days of going on the market, and we very quickly found a house that we totally loved, and, conveniently, was in the same town as Adam's mum... it all just "fell into place".
We were sad to leave some lovely people we'd met in Redditch but we felt like it was the right next step. 

Adam (32)

He's had lots going on this year, he'd progressed well at Superdream and was managing his own team. Once we moved, he actually continued working for them for a few months - doing 3 days at home, and 2 days at the office, which whilst he loved the company and colleagues, eventually proved to be a bit too much of a strain on time he spent with the kids (he was putting the boys to bed on a Sunday night, and then not seeing them until Wednesday morning!) So when a recruiter called him about a job in Manchester (well actually... probably the 5th or 6th recruiter!!), he agreed to speak to the company, and once that started, he discovered a great online gifting company, has been promoted to Head of Search Engine Marketing, and is able to learn and progress in the direction he wants to be going in. Bless him, he does get up at the crack of dawn every day to get a 6.45 train from Mirfield, but it means he can work 8-4 and is home for dinner (or tea as they call it here) with the boys.

Oh... on a side note, his company sell gorgeous bouquets of flowers, so I get much more regular random surprise flower gifts brought home - epic! :)
Adam has continued with his weight lifting, and by the end of the year, he'd was pressing well over 100kg (doubling his original target!) He's been eating healthily for most of the year (we all have time off at Christmas!) and so this year has been in the best shape of his life.
He's a great husband and daddy, and we all adore his quirky sense of humour and the fun he brings into life.




Joshua (6)

Adam and I were talking recently, and I think that overall, the move was hardest on Joshie, he'd had a lovely school in Redditch,

and some real diamonds at the church we attended - there were 3 brothers who were so welcoming and lovely to him, and were massively into lego, so it was a match made in heaven! Poor kid had a bit of a breakdown a couple weeks after we left and just cried for about 10-15 mins about how much he missed his friends. My heart absolutely broke for him... thankfully things have got much much better.

We managed to get him into a lovely C of E school 10 mins drive from us (the good schools in Mirfield were all full!!), we were very lucky as it's an "Outstanding" school, that was well over subscribed originally, but had a space open up just a few weeks before we moved up. He has made a great group of friends, who have got him into collecting football cards - currently he likes Hudds Town (well, we do live right next to it), and Spurs (might have been helped by my telling him that's the one my brothers support!). He goes to a football club and multi skills (some sort of sports each week) after school that he loves, recently started Beavers, and will be going to a Drawing and Painting after school club in January.

He loves to write stories at school, he was in a celebration assembly at school recently and praised for an adaptation he wrote on the 3 billy goats gruff - it was the "3 Cheetah's and the Zombie Under the Bridge"- wow! He also enjoys maths, and having options for school lunch! :)
He's a kind and generous person who shares so nicely and really feels emotions. He loves unconditionally and really tries hard in everything he puts his mind to. We love him very much. 



Joey (3 1/2)

Our little "destructo boy" has absolutely loved having a grassy and exciting garden to play in, during the summer (and some of the winter!) he was constantly there digging, exploring and having a generally awesome time. 
He's started at a lovely new day nursery and they are brilliant with him. Unfortunately we've had some challenging times with him too... we had noticed for a while that he seemed to have been a lot behind Josh was at his age, but just thought he would "grow out of it"... these development issues had been noticed at nursery, and after a few different observations and meetings, he's been put on a "My Care Plan", which will basically mean he gets a little extra funding and a bit more one on one time to help him in his understanding, speech and some large group social events. The phrase "autism spectrum" was mentioned in early meetings, but no official labels have been given, and they're hoping that with some more one on one time, we can hopefully bring him up to the same "speed" as the kids his age.

He's an absolute scream though... he is hilarious in his own little way, he makes us laugh (and pull our hair out!) every day, he's very intense and passionate about the things he wants to do, and can be an absolute charmer with his gorgeous little smile when he wants to be. We've been having the challenge of potty training him... I did a daily update on the blog a little while ago, which was fairly amusing... he's totally there with wees now, but the other aspect... well, lets just say we've thrown lots of pants away! 
We love our little crazy Joey though... life is definitely an adventure with him in it!

Me (31)

You know what... I have got so much to be grateful for this year. We had established some lovely friendships in Redditch, and after we first moved, I was worried that we might have made a mistake... but very quickly, I met some absolutely lovely mums at a local group, and they are so lovely and welcoming that I've felt settled very quickly. We've been out for nights out here and there too, so I feel like I'm properly established and happy.  I'd also been thinking hard about what I wanted to do work wise, and was applying for any and all part time jobs, and had assumed that it would have to be another "just fits around the kids, put my future career on the back-burner again" type job... but a few weeks into looking I saw a job for a Marketing Administrator at HSL Chairs that was 20 hours a week, and that really seemed interesting - and in the first instance, it included proof reading- woooo!! I could use previous admin experience, and also start towards feeling like I was using my degree (English - graduated 2009)! I applied, and hoped and prayed that maybe I'd hear back... and within a couple of weeks I was invited for interview!! I then found out that one of the mums in Mirfied actually worked there, and so I was able to speak to her about tips for interview etc, it felt so right, that I was worried I was getting far too carried away with it all and that I was due a big bump to reality... but guess what? I got it!! I got the job and started in mid August. I've really enjoyed it, my colleagues are so lovely, and have even been able to start doing some blog writing for them, and helping out with an internal newspaper. It's also school hours, so I don't need to worry about never being around for the kids whilst they're young, but I also feel like I could be on the step towards a career.
I have my ups and my downs, I feel emotions far too strongly (wish I could put a regulator on that!), but overall I'm happy. I have a fantastic husband, strong, healthy and lovely (most the time ;) ) kids, a home that I really love, in an area that has history and character, and fields!! and a job that I am always happy to go to. 

We've had a crazy year (do we ever not?!), but we've had some really lovely and exciting turns in our road of life! Thank you to all the old and new friends and family that have been part of it all. We love you. 

Potty-Training Diaries Day 6 - 11 (The End)

I decided that a daily update was probably getting a bit too much, so here's a slightly (not much) more concise breakdown from the last 5 days...

24/06

We've had a great day so far (it's currently 13:55), he's done a big mamma jamma poop and a fair few wees on the potty. Currently no puddles have been discovered (not that that means there aren't any lurking behind corners ready for me to tread in!) I'd gone to a soft play party with JD this morning, so kept getting regular updates from Big A telling me how well JJ was doing - I'm now wondering if it's just me that he won't perform for! I think they've all been whilst he was already sat on the potty, but I'll take it!

One funny moment I wanted to share from a little while ago:

JD had dived straight into his party bag when he got home (obvs) and there was a very generous slice of a bright pink Trolls cake - chocolate sponge and princess pink buttercream. JD very kindly offered to share it with JJ (he's very good at sharing) and so, as a result, there was cake crumbs and icing smudged over everything in my sitting room! After clearing this up, I quickly forgot about it whilst getting on with preparing lunch. JJ came wondering in a few mins later and I noticed a nasty brown lump in his butt crack!! "Oh Noooo!!" I thought... "please don't tell me Big A didn't actually wipe his bum properly?" Oh freak, none of the brown smudges were on anything else were they?!

I hurried to get his bum wiped (strangely difficult when he is stood up rather than lying down), and when I pulled the wet wipe away, I noticed it was a bit crumbly - gross!! It's been there so long that it has dried!

On second wipe, it seemed distinctly un-poop like... and then it dawned on me! My cake-mad 3 year old had been pottering about with a fairly substantial piece of chocolate sponge trapped between his bum cheeks! Haha!! Just glad he hadn't noticed it... He most certainly would have tried to eat it! Nutter.

25/06

So... We're going to call today a "taking a break" day... As opposed to a "we were out all day so I chickened out and put him in a nappy"

I think we all feel a bit more normal for it though ☺

26/06

So far a decent day... Still pull-ups for the School run, but it was a 45 min walk today - Big A has the car on a Monday for work, and no taxis available due to Eid. But it was quite a pleasant walk in the sun... Mostly uphill, but JD gave us plenty of "in-flight entertainment" due to a non stop stream of questions about the world: "What is lava made from?" "What happens to nests when the birds are finished with them?" "Where are volcanoes?" "Do daisies close up at night like other flowers?" "Is 180 billion the biggest number?"

It's mentally exhausting, but I'm really glad that he thinks on a deeper level than just what a ninja turtle eats (pizza, obviously).

Anywho, once we got home, JJ is allowed to watch some Umizoomis for an hour or so. We took off his pull ups, sat him on the potty, and within a few mins he had already done a wee on it.

Since that time (it's 10:40- this is his last episode now) he's done a few more in there- yay! I think he's getting a bit of a taste for mini marshmallows, because he keeps squeezing out a few drops, and running over: "I did a wee wee!! Marshmallow pleeeeease"

But I remember JD doing this, and it was all a process of him "getting it".

Stay tuned...

11:46

He just said YES when I asked if he needed a wee!! He actually thought about it and said yes!!!

He had been playing outside in the sand whilst I tidied our chaos of a spare room upstairs

He had wondered inside to find some more toys to get sandy, and when I asked, he actually did!!! Then he went and did a full on, not just a piddle, wee!!!

This is so exciting - I know my life must be seriously sad for this to excite me, but yaaayyy!! (I'm currently proof reading before publishing... I use far too many exclamation marks... I think I must have been very excited... or sleep deprived - probably both)

27/06

Is there anything worse (whilst potty training... I'm not being overly dramatic here!) than hearing that very very distinctive noise of a child going for a number 2... And he's not wearing pants... And he's in my carpeted bedroom... Oh, and just to "throw it out there", this kid eats a fair whack of fruit... No fibre issues for him... *puke*

So scrubbing that within an inch of its life was fun (the carpet, not my son!)

Other than that it's been a fantastic day so far... No wee wee accidents and he's even proactively,  without prompting, gone and used the potty a couple of times!

It is only 14:02 though... Maybe I shouldn't crow too loud ;)

28/06

WE'VE HAD OUR FIRST FULLY DRY DAY!!! I cannot even tell you how chuffed I am! (maybe the shouty caps conveyed that though...😏)

So we even went to a toddler group this morning in just pants!! (Batman ones of course) Quick shout out to the completely lovely and welcoming mums in Mirfield - you are wonderful!  Thank you for making me feel a part of you all so quickly.

Honestly though... Less than a week ago I was 100% convinced JJ wasn't even close to being ready! OK... So we've still not had a spontaneous walk to the potty for a number 2, but wees are all in there now!! Yaaayyy - I got the happy ending (ish) that I was hoping for.

I have no doubt that we will continue to battle on with this for a while, but I feel like we have made a real substantial "dent" in the whole process.

I think I'm going to close up my Potty-Training Diaries for now... There aren't many interesting tidbits to share regularly - success is so much duller than failure! 😉

I've enjoyed writing regularly again though, hopefully it'll inspire me to keep going, but with something less poo and wee oriented (less... Not none at all)

For now though... From the potty training headquarters - over and out!



Potty-Training Diaries: Day 5 (Unexpected)

18:11
The kids are happily sat drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows whilst watching The Hungry Caterpillar - a nice Friday treat, so I thought I'd take this quiet moment to update you on Day 5. 

Well yesterday I was feeling a bit sorry for myself... Utterly fed up of the whole process, I was completely convinced that that JJ wasn't ready, he was just not going to get it. In fact I was picturing him still in nappies in his 20s! I did decide to give him one more day to see if there was any progress at all. 

So this morning, I had a Friday group that I go to. There's a really lovely and welcoming group of mums who I've really enjoyed getting to know since moving up to Mirfield. JJ was a bit of terror last week (he seemed to have started another damned hitting/pushing phase), but they were all so kind about it. 
Anyway, I decided to attempt it again today, see if he would stop being such a douchbag (I think I've been round Big A too much... I don't know if I even knew that phrase before him!) 
JJ started off and within 5 mins he'd pushed someone! Waaaaaa!! But thankfully I didn't pack it in right away, and after that he got much better... 
I'm so glad I stayed. The group I was chatting to really really helped me feel much more sane and less of a failure with this whole potty training malarkey. I really appreciated hearing their own differing experiences/advice etc. 

When we got home, I took off his pull ups and pants combo (yes of course he had wet those whilst we were out, despite my attempts to the contrary), and after lunch I let him watch a Fireman Sam film whilst I filled out some paperwork to register at the local doctors (good grief they ask about everything!! Took me aaaages). Anyway, I sat him on the potty whilst watching it, and about 15 mins in, he suddenly yelped and clapped - he'd weed!! And he had registered the fact that he had done it!! Yaaaayyyyy!! 
He did the same again 30 mins or so later - I'd popped upstairs for something and he came running up the stairs shouting, "mummy mummy I weeeeeed!!"  - yaayyy!! 

What I was most chuffed about today though was that on two occasions after that,  I sat him on for 30 seconds or so before we needed to go out or whatever,  and he managed to squeeze out a very small piddle each time!!! This is such a big moment!! I think he's finally figuring out how wee comes out! I know this might seem like nothing, and I can't believe my life has become reduced to getting excited over a couple drops of piddle, but it was brilliant!! 

So... I'm not going to give up completely - I'm going to just try to keep going, but without putting so much pressure on him. And really really try not to get so cross when he goes elsewhere!  

Final count: 
Wees on the potty: 4 
Wees on the floor: 0 (yay!) 
Wees in pull ups: a few here and there 

Verdict: maybe I can see a light at the end of this tunnel... Hopefully it's not a train! 

Potty-Training Diaries: Day 4 (or not...)

I was so smug yesterday... thinking we were making progress... buuut whilst I like my stories to have a "happy ending", I feel like this one might be unsatisfactory, unresolved and a "to-be-continued" type ending. But... I'll give it until tomorrow evening at least. 

11:30
So my plan today was to stay with him, play games, be 100% switched on, so that  I could catch any beginnings of urinal output. Well guess what? I was. For hours, I was, and there was nufink.

Then I got a message from my sister about food for a get together on Sunday, I reply, he wonders off whilst I'm doing it, and THAT is when he decides to spray the floor!!! Gaaaaahhhh!

12:48
I decorated some chocolate digestives with royal icing yesterday at a sugarcraft class... He's had his eye on one with a spider web design all morning. I promised he could have it if he weed in the potty. About 20 mins ago, he wanted to have a try and sat on it with a distinctively "trying for the loo" look about him. I really genuinely thought he might manage to squeeze one out. He kept looking between his legs to see of he had done one. It was pretty cute...

But he didn't manage any... So we figured there was none available.
Buuut literally 5 mins later he wees all over a lovely cushion that my sister in law had sent me from the Far East!! Waaaaaa!!!

14:32
Managed to catch him mid weeing on the carpet, and quickly drag him, pants and all, onto the potty.. so a very small, and sieved through Batman pants, amount was collected. He was pretty chuffed with himself! 

19:07
Well I put him in pull ups to get JD from school, and then he stayed in them. I did read somewhere something about not doing it for the full day if they're getting stressed with it. 
I really am starting to think he is not ready. I hate to feel like a failure, but he's just not getting it! I might have to just give him a break for a week or two and then readdress it. He gets really tantrum-y and freaked out every time I suggest sitting on the potty, and I don't want to emotionally scar the boy!  

Boooooo!

Final count: 
Wees in potty: 1/2! 
Verdict: I might need to give up 😐 I'll give it one more day though. 

Potty-Training Diaries: Day 3 (maybe...?)

7:00
"hahaha...Mummyyyyyyy, hahaha! Joey took his nappy off and weed on his bed!!"

That was my 6:20am wake up this morning! Ooooh the joys and glamour of parenthood. Big A and I take turns dealing with the kids in the early hours, and lucky old me, it was my turn.
"Where will you go for the next wee wee JJ?"
"Da bed"
"No no! I mean your next wee! When you need another one? Where does it go?"
"in da bed!"
"Noooo!!" *and repeat*
Uuuggghhh here comes another one of those days!

9:00
I need to go food shopping... How the hell do people dedicate a whole week to uninterrupted potty training?! Right,  pants + pull ups again!

10:37
HE POOPED IN THE POTTY!!!!! An honest to goodness huge mamma poop all in the potty!!!!!

Okay, so he was sat on there as his chair and I'd put on umizoomis (random, vaguely educational TV show) whilst I put away the shopping (and yes he peed in his pants/pull up combo whilst we were out!) so technically he didn't go over and choose to use it, but you know what, I'll take any victory I can get! Here's hoping the massive fuss and high fives I made of it will help!
Cakes and marshmallows for him!



15:02
Currently sitting at 2 wees in the potty, both whilst he had already been put on the potty and was sitting there distracted by other things... I'm choosing to see this as progress ;)
Oh also... My house smells of pee mixed with fish! Niiiice (big A eats tinned fish for protein hits -yuck!)

22:30
I've just got back from being out at an outdoor production of Jane Ayre. Really great evening and lots of laughs (not at the play itself - that was excellent, but not a comedy ;)) 

It did make me wonder... How did they potty train back in the 19th century?! I can imagine they'd want to get kids out of those cloth nappy things asap! But would they have endured the same mind numbing and crazy struggle I wonder... 

Anyway, no more potty deposits, but he was outside a lot of the afternoon post-school. Also it was that hot, that I can imagine his body was retaining all possible fluid! We did have a leakage in the evening, but we genuinely can't find the puddle of pee anywhere - eek! 

Final count in potty: 2 wees, 1 poop 
Elsewhere: not really sure... At least 3 or 4
Verdict: progress (I hope)

Potty-Training Diaries: Day 2 (oops)

So today won't have quite as many updates... It's my birthday!  The big 3-1! Where the hell did the last 10 years go?!? Nuts.
Anywho, we're out for some of the day today, just going to put him in pants with a pull up over the top (then he will feel wet, but we don't get the stress of it as much)
But wanted to share a cute moment from this morning.
I came into the bathroom to find JJ stood at the toilet with his bare bum out for all to see. JD was stood next to him, pants down and showing how he used the toilet! He then proceeded to show the whole, pull up pants, wash hands (with soap) etc.
I know it sounds a bit bizarre but it was such a sweet brothers moment.

No wee in the toilet though...  Ah well.

19.10 
I can hear my lovely husband putting the boys to bed, so thought I'd finish today's quick update. 
So Big A had a very smart idea of great distraction techniques whilst on the potty. I had a nice long hot bath, and I could hear them banging away on saucepans downstairs. As it transpired, JJ was sat on the potty the whole time, making a right happy riot for half an hour or so. 
Buuut no wees. 
After, he got him playing with lego for ages whilst sat on his special throne... Again, no wees!  Ugh. 

 10 mins later... Wet pants... Wee on his matress! Damn it!! 

We were out all day so it sort of slipped after that. Oops! 
Try again tomorrow! 

On a plus side, I just had a giant flake birthday cake! So I'm in a fairly cheerful mood ;) 

Potty-Training Diaries: Day 1 (Ugh!)

Well as promised, I started my day by day breakdown of potty training today... I was hoping for 2 or 3 wees in the potty... and hopefully not too much mess with a "number 2". Silly me... I've met my son haven't I?

9:45 am (wees in potty = 0)
Well I put JJ into his new super exciting Paw Patrol pull-up pants this morning... Buuut then thanks to Big A being away for work today, I had to get a taxi to JD's school. By the time I got home with lots of promises of marshmallows for wees in potties... I pulled down his pull-ups to find he had already made a liquid deposit this morning... Dangit! Ah well... I'll try anyway! Sit him on the potty for 5-10 mins, give him a little soft toy show about wee wees etc (I should have been a children's TV presenter I tell you!)
But no luck... Not even a piddle!
Oh well... Fingers crossed for the next try!

10:31 (Wees in potty = 0)
So I just got momentarily uber excited! I'd been out to hang up some washing and came back to what looked like a full on number 2 in his potty!!! I was amazed!...  For all of about 2 seconds.

He'd been raiding the fruit bowl! That's a kiwi! :( 

Oh... Also, on another "sitting him on the toilet and trying to keep it jolly" attempt, he's now reached the tantrum stage! Oh joys!

12:00
Waaaaaa!!! He's done at least 2 wees, both of which were in his damned pull-ups.
I've tried putting him on every 15-20 mins for 5 mins at a time and nothing! Gaarrrgghhhh
I've tried changing tactic now. I've put him in pants... I'll probably regret this soon...

12.10
Yes... I regret it.
On a plus side, at least he came in and told me that he had created a puddle on the kitchen floor... Is that progress?!

12:30
Yeah... So he just peed all over the floor again... But this time he was a foot away from the damned potty!

I feel I may be going potty from the number of times I've said potty today!

13:05
Had a poop in his pants. So gross.

13:19
I decided to just chill out a bit (aka give up a little)
We're now outside in his pants and playing in water. Today can just be a recognising when he has peed day.
Until my next melt down!



13:22
Queue melt down: he just peed on my feet and I'm wearing flip flops!!

14:05
I need a pick me up - this boy is utterly clueless. I literally talk to him about the potty, marshmallows,  get him to try sitting on it for a while...  5 mins later... the dreaded sound of liquid landing on the floor! Uuugghhh.

French fancy... You are my friend! Love you!

18:23
So I stopped my regular updates... It was all much of the same - attempts to get him to sit on the potty, him insisting the wee was "all gone" and then him piddling all over the floor within minutes. 

Is it bedtime yet?


Final count:
Wees in potty: 0
Everywhere else: who the hell knows... Millions!
Verdict: Failure!

Why the hell did I start this the day before my birthday?!