It's Awesome

For months, we've known Mia is capable of using the potty - she just doesn't want to, most of the time. This week, my desire to get Mia out of pull-ups became stronger than my fear of accidents. I bought her some very thick cotton training underpants and hoped for the best. I promised the forbidden fruit, yogurt melts, as a reward if she stayed dry all day. (I should note that yogurt melts are usually reserved for high-stakes situations like airplane rides because she loves them and they are ridiculously expensive to serve on a regular basis.) Diapers are still permitted during naps and overnight, of course. Sunday went well. Mia wore the underpants all day, stayed dry, and got yogurt melts that night. On Monday, I decided to put her in pull-ups for preschool. We are required to put 2 diapers/pull-ups in their backpack every day, and when I saw she'd stayed dry at school, I got bolder on Tuesday. With the lead teacher's support ("We know you can do it, Mia!"), I put her in training pants. The assistant teacher, who is the designated diaper-changer, wasn't quite so anxious to try it out, but she agreed. They warned me that after one accident, Mia would have to wear pull-ups again.
I'm happy to report that Mia stayed dry at school all week. We haven't been quite as lucky at home, with one accident most days. Mia's teacher has encouraged me to involve Mia in the clean-up, saying "accidents" should be physically unpleasant for the perpetrator. On Thursday night, Jeff and I took Mia to the mall. I needed to make a purchase, and Jeff thought Mia would enjoy playing on the indoor playground. Jeff noted some apprehension about leaving the diaper bag in the minivan. Despite his repeated queries, "Mia, do you have to go potty?" I got a cellphone call from Jeff saying she'd wet her pants. Her legs were soaked, as were her socks. (Jeff said, "We kept moving so a puddle didn't collect." I'm pretty sure he was joking.) With no diaper bag, that left Mia walking stiff-legged back to the parking lot. She was clearly uncomfortable, which seemed appropriate in our view.
We are seeing definite signs of progress. This morning, Mia announced she had to go potty. She went in the powder room and returned saying, "Mom, I pooped." She had even wiped herself well. As I went to inspect, Mia pointed to the toilet and said in an earnest tone, "Look, Mom, it's awesome."
What's really awesome is the money I'm saving on pull-ups.