Ups and downs of potty training

Still struggling with the potty training. It's not that Rosie can't do, it's that she won't. She wakes up every morning with a dry Pull-Up and then does a massive wee in it. In the last week or so it's gotten to the point where her Pull-Up can't cope with the deluge and leaks all over her pajamas and usually the bed. Rosie hates this so I've started keeping a potty by the bed and as soon as she wakes up I plonk her on it.

The first morning she did a wee in the potty and it was a decent one, though not as much as I expected. We did the potty dance and clapped hands and Rosie was very proud of herself. As I went downstairs to get her some underwear I heard her start crying. She was standing at the top of the stairs finishing her wee. It was unbelievable. Like something out of The Exorcist. Rosie was standing their weeping her heart out completely unable to control it. The top three steps were soaked.

I promised to buy her a pink potty (which is our third potty) if she would put all of her wees and poos in it. Rosie said she would so we went off to Bluewater and looked at every potty known to mankind. She chose a pretty little pink one and I put it by the bed that night. Next morning we talked about making sure she was totally empty and she did a great job. I started to see a small light at the end of the tunnel.

Today I took Rosie out of the house in underwear for the first time. She did her morning wee and then tried again before we went out. All on the pink potty of course. I cleaned the potty, put it in a grocery bag and took it out with us along with a change of clothes, potty wipes, Pull-Ups just in case and Dettol wipes. Have potty, will travel.

When we got to the cafe I saw that Rosie was doing the wee wee dance so I took her to the loo along with her potty and she did a wee! In a public loo! Breakthrough!! Unfortunately half an hour later I caught a whiff of a very distinct aroma. Rosie had pooed in her pants. Oh my God it was not a pretty site and she was completely unphased and unrepentant. I just threw the underpants away, cleaned her up and changed her clothes. Two steps forward and one step back.

Then to top things off this morning while my friend Poppy and I were talking Rosie and Poppy's daughter Eva wandered into the loo, put the plug in the sink and turned the tap on! Poppy and I ended up on our hands and knees mopping the floor with paper towels, gulping down our coffees and exiting the cafe as quickly as possible. It's a tiny place run by a grumpy lady. I'm sure we just made her Shit List. If we didn't make it for the water then we will when she finds what I left in the bin. Yet another place I'll need to avoid in future.

ADDENDUM:

Just picked Toby up from school. Rosie sat on her potty for 20 minutes with no success before going out. Once we reached the school she wet her pants. We collected Toby and Finn, who came home for dinner, and as we walked back they noticed Rosie's wet bottom. I thought I would let the boys tease her a little bit in the hope that shame might succeed where bribery, threats and pleading had failed. Was Rosie embarrassed? No she was not. When the boys started to tease her she shook her wet bottom at them and then laughed when they ran away.

I see a long road ahead.