accomplishment!

it feels like an accomplishment when a 6 year doesn't "use it" in her pants for a week. ah, the smell -er rather nonsmell- of success! a 1st grade teacher and i embarked on a collaborative problem solving model (developed by dr. ross green) last week. we sat down and i opened the discussion (making sure to note that she was not in trouble), with, "we noticed that you have been going to the bathroom on yourself almost every day...what's up?" after shrugs, more questions, the empathy stage, more shrugs, avoidance, tabling questions, and then more digging (as we learned in our training, it's key to do this all without judgment), we found out that she goes to the bathroom, but then doesn't go all the way. apparently she was rushing it, then when her pants were up, she would finish! so with some more questions, i decided it was time for invitation to solutions. since it was difficult for her to come up with ideas on how not to wet herself, the teacher and i bounced ideas off each other and made sure the 6 year old understood what was happening. i know, i know, you're supposed to let the student come up with the idea on her own. however, this was the type of thing that needed some adult input (so plan "a" right*?). ah well, we all finally decided for her to count to 20 on the toilet and if she wasn't done, count again! she even suggested having a special signal to tell the teacher she needed to use the bathroom, and they decided to have the teacher prompt her before she left with their own special phrase, "don't forget to count!"
:) overall, it's been a week and no wet pants! whew. i'll take the little things in life!


*plan a in this model is usually the adult imposing their own agenda for what is the "right" way to do something. versus plan b, which involves the child's perspective and is a bit more "collaborative"