Angry Birds and Potty Training

Recently we have been struggling with Vince using the toilet and not just having accidents.  He was doing well for a really long time and now he just gets too busy or just doesn't care (I haven't figured out which one) and we have a lot of accidents.  If you tell him to go use the potty he gets really mad and throws a fit.  Lately it has been driving me crazy, mostly because he was doing so well!  Originally we used stickers and jelly beans for using the potty.  The stickers were a bust and the jelly beans sort of worked.  This summer we just let him go outside because he loved peeing on things (trees, grass, flowers, etc) and that was going really well.  We would still have accidents and if we were going on a long car trip or he was sleeping he would wear a pull-up.  This last month he just goes whereever and whenever he wants to, sometime in the toilet and sometimes not, and he doesn't seem to care!

Last night we were out to dinner with my aunts, uncles, cousins, my dad and my grandparents.  Vince and Joel were playing with our iphones and my sister Alyse's iphone.  Vince was quick to ask for Aunt Alyse's phone because I think he was hoping for some new games or videos or something.  He ended up finding the game Angry Birds on her phone.  I have never played it but I know a lot of people love it.   Vince was sitting on my Aunt Carol's lap when he started playing it and instantly knew how to play and loved it!  Alyse downloaded it on my phone while we were at the restaurant and Vince started playing it on my phone when Aunt Alyse left.  He has cleared several levels and has the look of intense concentration on his face (tongue sticking out and everything) when he is playing.  Occassionally he will shout something like "I love Angry Birds" or "2,8,9, thousand!"  I am guessing he is getting excited about all the points he is scoring.

At first Brad and I were thinking that this is going to be a hard addiction to break because we were not letting him spend all day playing with our phones and not socializing with the rest of the family.  He is 3 and I wasn't expecting this behavior until he was at least 10.   This morning when Vince came running into our room at 6:45am asking for Angry Birds we decided Angry Birds could be the key to getting back on track as far as potty training goes.  When I told Vince he needed to use the bathroom first he said ok and ran off and went by himself with no arguing!  So our new plan is everytime he uses the potty he can play Angry Birds for 3 minutes and if he has an accident no more Angry Birds for the day.  This could completely backfire at some point, but we are going to take advantage of it while we can even if it is just for one day!

Thanks Aunt Alyse for introducing Angry Birds to Vince!