"Ding!" Time to go potty!

Every 20 minutes around our house, a timer goes off.

Every 20 minutes for a week.

Sounds fun, right?

"Why?" you ask.  Well, I'm potty training my two year old, of course!

It's the method I've used w/ my other three kids. I don't know where I got the idea, but for us, it works.

Basically, when I think he's ready, I put him in underwear and try to stay home as much as possible. While home, every twenty minutes, a timer goes off and I have him sit on the potty. He gets a jelly bean for trying. If he happens to go, then he gets two! And he gets to help flush it away. That is very exciting.

The first two days are, well, messy. He's learning what going potty is all about. It takes a bit of time to move from, "Uh Oh, mess," to realizing the feeling before he has to go.

I'm on day 3 right now, and it's going well. Last night, he was dry for about 5 hours straight!

Hopefully, by the first of next week, I'll stretch it to 40 minutes and he'll start to tell me, rather than relying on the timer. That's the goal, anyway.

And to be honest, the timer is really for me. I'm just too distracted with life to remember to have the little guy try! So the timer reminds me  that, "Hey, easily distracted mom, you're potty training, remember?"

What advice would you give someone who was potty training their child for the first time?

Super-Fast Dinner: For THOSE days...

It's 5:08. The kids will be coming inside soon from the cold snow. My husband will be on his way home. The Toddler will be rousing from his later than usual nap.  I have a pounding, aching, splitting headache that appeared out of nowhere and put me on the couch for a couple of hours.

Dragging myself up, I am thankful for this super easy dinner recipe that will be on my table tonight.

• 1 Polish Sausage
• 2 Cans Green Beans
• 2 Cans Potatoes, sliced

Cut up polish sausage and dump in pot with cans and the liquid.  Simmer 30 minutes.  DONE.

(Do not simmer too long or the sausage will lose all its flavor.)

Does dinner get any easier than that?  I usually double the recipe because my kids all want seconds.  And if I only have whole canned potatoes, I dump the juice in the pot, slice up the potatoes really quick, then throw them in.

It's now 5:15.  From pantry to table by 5:45.  Priceless.

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