On bribery

Jacob's poop strike continues. Many times every day, the boy runs through the house screaming "Mommy, MOMMEEEE!", freaking out and grabbing his buttcrack, but never of his own volition heading to the potty.

My favorite new tactic is casual bribery.

"Do you need to poop?"
"NO!"
"I'll give you a piece of candy if you poop."
"NO, I DON'T WANT CANDY!"

Seriously, the kid says that. Recently I expanded my bribery repertoire. We have a basket on a high shelf we use for toy time-out. Most of the time, the only way I can get Jacob to obey is to put his favorite toys in time-out for the day. I can't decide if this tactic is really quite evil, but for me there aren't many other options. This morning I put Woody in a time-out because Jacob made a point of ignoring every word I said. Tonight I suggested Woody might get an early reprieve if Jake showed me some poo. He thought about it a little before saying no. The little one, he is broken, I swear.

Yesterday I was so concerned with his obvious pain that I quit giving him milk, which I probably should have been doing all along. His pediatrician told me it would exacerbate his constipation, and that I should take it out of his diet whenever he had episodes, of which I was told there would be many for months to come. This was a big deal, though -- both boys always start their morning with a cup of warm milk. When I told him he couldn't have it because he wasn't pooping, he took it surprisingly well. But he did keep asking, and I had to keep telling. Finally I was struck with inspiration.

"You can have some milk if you make me some poop."

Pause. Sigh.

"All right. I'll make some poop for you."

And he DID.