Tuesday, February 12, 2008

No punishment harsh enough

Toilet training is hard, there's no argument about that. We are introducing Sophia to the potty and she thinks the whole purpose of the toilet is to say bye-bye to the water as it flushes. She'll sit on it for a bit, get up and says, "Bye-bye pee-pee," with no actual pee-pee in the potty.

It's frustration, yes, but she's only 1 so I'm just glad she's sitting on the potty. So, I was shocked after reading a recent Associated Press article about an 18-year-old man who was sentenced to life in prison for killing girlfriend's 1-year-old over toilet training frustration.

According to the article, "A judge has sentenced a teenager to life in prison for killing an 1-year-old boy by repeatedly swinging him against a wall because he was frustrated with the child's toilet training." Authorities said the man, the mother's boyfriend, repeatedly slammed the boy against the wall when he became frustrated while trying to toilet train him. The impact left drywall stuck to the boy's head and cracked a wooden door.

I am completely speechless. Violence against the innocent is inexcusable. As far as I'm concerned there isn't a harsh enough punishment for this man.

2 comments:

Karen S. said...

I used potty training rewards. I sat my son down and showed him the push button he could push after using his potty and hear he is a Big Boy and that then he would be able to open a door and find a surprise really did the trick. He would go in his potty and say where is Bobby. That is what we named the little boy on the outside packaging. He loved pushing the button hearing he is a Big Boy and opening a door to find a chocolate surprise. He was peeing and pooping in his potty within a week. I also kept one in the car to encourage him to tell me when he had to go because he loved pushing the button so much. Have a look and see if this would work for you. www.pottytrainingrewards.com

Diane said...

That is hysterical. I love it! I went to the web site and played the demo for potty training rewards and it is nothing like what I thought it when I first read this comment. I'm not sure if Sophia is really, really ready for the potty just yet, but when she is I will try this. Thanks!