Update on potty training... and the terrible twos.

All last week, he had very few accidents (like 2-3 total) and he would tell us when he needed to go.
Last thursday, I had to wake him up early from his nap, so that I could get to my Dr. appointment on time. He was a cranky pants and refused to go the bathroom before we left. So, I just figured that I put on a diaper on him and not waste any more time battling it out. While we were at the Dr. office, Benjamin told Rob that he had to go the bathroom, and went on the big boy potty and did not wet his diaper at all (we were at the Dr's for 3.5 hours).
So, All week, we have had this kind of success and it was evident that Benjamin could control his bladder. I tell all of this to prove my case.

Up to this point we have had 7 days of pretty much being fully potty trained. Then on Friday, Benjamin decides to.... I duno, exhibit his right to be a terrible two year old. He refused, REFUSED to go potty. He had more "accidents" (umm which were not, and I will explain why later) than he ever did on the first day of potty training.
I would ask him if he needed to go the bathroom, and he would say no, freak out, and then 1 min later, go all over the floor. After a while, I realized what he was up to. It wasn't until dinner time till I figured it out.

While I was making dinner, Benjamin was "helping"--- aka playing with the sink faucet. He suddenly had a big accident. So I cleaned it up, took off his underwear, talked to him about it, and then resumed our activities. Then not 5 mins later, I look over and see him looking at the faucet and looking at the stream of pee coming from himself and smiling. (I did not know a child that little could pee so much). Then it dawned on me, that he was doing this on purpose... all of it--- just because he could. Maybe I sound like a terrible parent, but really, he was. If there was one thing I learned from teaching school, is that kids are a whole lot smarter than we give them credit for... that includes toddlers.

Another example of this, was when rob asked him to go use the bathroom, and benjamin said he didn't have to. One min later, he walks in from the outside porch and told us that he went pee on the porch. Awesome.

At this point, I was done with this behavior. So, I know, I KNOW that all the reading and literature says not to make potty training a negative experience, but this was soooo different. My kid knew exactly what he was doing, when he was doing it, and that he was creating a power struggle between himself and his parents... and he was winning. So, Rob and I talked about it, and decided that when he did this on purpose, he would be put in time out. So Mr. Benjamin went straight to time out, and had to help rob clean it up off the porch. We told him if he continues to do this, he would get timeouts and toys taken away.
The result? He got the message. No more "accidents" or power struggles. He has had perfect days. Sunday, I was a little nervous about because we would be at church (an he woke up at 6am which is super early for him and he was cranky), but he went twice. Once, he told us he needed to go. And he didn't fight rob when rob asked him to go during third hour. Yesterday and today? Perfect. He goes on his own, without us asking him, and he has done so well. Obviously I am sure that he will have more accidents, but at least, it won't be on purpose!