The potty training saga

A long drawn out affair, a 100 page potboiler indeed; mostly tiring, sometimes messy - this is the saga of Kochunni's tryst with the big potty.

Characters
Kochunni
Amma - A harried, busy woman who was having nightmares of her boy being married in diapers.
Achan - A super busy dad
Ms. L - A teacher who was deemed an expert at potty training children
Si-chechi - Kochunni's chechi - adored by one an all
Secondary characters - Ammamma (grandma), Muthu (grandpa), Achaamma (paternal grandma), Ms.Y (the school principal)

Setting
Three year birthday party at Kochunni's school is almost over, the kids are eating cake as the parents discuss Kochunni's bright future.

The story
Ms. Y - I have asked Ms.L to get Kochunni potty trained by the end of the month, he needs to move to the next class. (looking at Kochunni) the class were all your friends are moving to, with computers!
Amma - Wonderful! I have been telling him the same thing. He is pretty good at peeing in the toilet, but that is it.
Ms L interjects - The only way to turn him around is for him to be in underwear. If you are ready to do the same at home, I will to. Just send me enough underwear and pants for accidents.
Amma, visibly overjoyed: Of course, lets do it. When?
Ms L. Tomorrow if you are ready.
Amma, Sure, lets do it.

As Amma and Achan leave with Kochunni they discuss the matter. It seems simple enough. Kochunni meanwhile has no clue of the ordeal he is being pushed into.

The next day Amma packs of 10 set of underwear and pants, she has already prepped Kochunni with talk of being the "big boy". She is naive, hoping that by the end of the week she will have a fully potty trained boy at home.

Day 1: Kochunni plays, learns, colors, has no accidents at school. But he hasn't pooped.
Day 2: Ms L tries again. She promises Kochunni new toys. But no luck.Circumstance comes Kochunni's rescue as Achan had an office picnic to attend. The picnic at the park gave no option, so he put on the diaper. Kochunni seizes his luck and does the job!
Day 3: Repeat Day 1. Ms. L gives suggestions - Prune juice, oranges, he will do it this weekend, she's prophetic.
Day 4: Repeat Day 1. By evening Kochunni is in pain, his tummy is visibly bigger. All he wants to do is lie on the sofa, claiming sheer tiredness. Amma tries to all known tactics - bribe, plead, read books, nothing helps
Day 5: A very similar day except, Si-chechi arrived to save the day. As Kochunni sat at the potty, she promises him the sun and moon (a big truck) to do the big job. Not really sure if it was the promise of the big truck, or it coming from his chechi, or being that he couldn't hold it in any longer out came his stuff. Of course Amma had a promise to keep, so Target shopping was in order. Kochunni got a big truck while his chechi got Pokeman cards.

(Had the tide turned?)

Day 6 - Back at school, Ms. L even gives him a toy for doing his thing over the weekend. But no repeat telecast is in sight to her
Day 7 - Repeat Day 1

A week has gone by, the parents make calls to the grandmas, suggestions were put into place - warm cup of milk first thing in the morning, more prune juices and oranges. Adding more fiber to his food, less cheese, but no change in sight.

Week 2 - was a repeat telecast of week 1, expect Amma wasn't sure of the process any more. Giving up seemed an easier option, but sanity prevailed, especially as her dad pointed out the wasted effort if she gave up now. Amma suddenly had a brilliant idea, she threatened Kochunni of having to go to the doctor for a big ingestion if he did not do his thing. She even pretended to call Achan to ask him to get the appointment. Again, not sure if the threatening did the trick or the 3-day delay, but the job was done.

The next day, Amma tried the same tactic, but to no avail. (By then one thing was certain to for the parents, he would do his thing every 3 to 4 days. On the other hand, Kochunni was understanding his little power too).

Three year doctor visit was at hand. Amma was afraid the doctor would put an end to the process, as many of her colleagues had suggested, putting forth the refrain of "He will do it when he is ready" But the doctor suggested no such thing, she was instead impressed with his progress. She suggested a mild medication to ensure his stools remained soft to ensure that he doesn't have any pain after the 3-4 day delay. Amma was ready to try anything at this point, so she bought it immediately.

Amma started to give the medication just a little with every drink, and slowly Kochunni decided to yield his power. For the past week he has being doing his job every evening, though medication stopped after the first few days. He would of course demand a little chocolate after the said job as his reward. A small price to pay, as is back to his usual self - no more big tummy, no more pain!

(Amma was seeing dancing around in the neighborhood until yesterday evening, when she collapsed from sheer exhaustion)
The End

The three week process has yielded a diaper free zone. Kochunni still sleeps at night with his diaper, but its usually dry in the morning. And as one saga draws to an end, another one is rising in the horizon - the big move to sleeping in his room, ALONE! That's for another day!

*pic courtesy of google images.