Mayhem, Looting, Rioting - And Thats Just My House!

Sometimes i liken the riots and looting in London to what goes on my own home with my three kids.

We have riots - tantrums, screams, destruction and violence
We have looting - cupboard doors flung open, jaffa cakes missing, salt tipped all over the place
And we have mayhem - 5 people, 1 dog and a cat crammed into a 2 bed flat on a day where we have no where to go and are trying to potty train one of the children.

Yesterday my three were going on at me all day to go to the park. Not only the park, to get ice cream too because they have made the clever observation that the garage selling ice creams is right next door to the park and now demand the two come as a pair.
In the end i gave in, sent a text to my cousin and we met up at the park.
For some reason our kids always take their shoes off where ever they go. The park, the woods, the garden, peoples houses, etc. They arent told to do this but they must be part feral and this is how they feel comfortable.
This was how they left their shoes:

After 5 mins the kids started asking for ice cream, 5 mins later i gave in and took them for ice cream. 5 mins after that Sophie had enough of her ice cream and gave it to me to finish (eat the lot). Bang goes my plan of sticking to weight watchers this week.

Today though we had a day in. I decided that after enough delaying and letting Sophie get away with it, she was going to progress from the potty to the toilet. Being the baby of the family we have let her get away with alot. Its not big and its not clever i know but its very difficult to resist Sophies charm, and we all struggle with it.

I waited until she was almost 3 to begin potty training. My other 2 girls were finished by then. It was part laziness, part me not wanting my baby to grow up and not being too bothered about it. Plus i figured that if i waited longer, it would be easier. I was mostly right in my thinking. Within a few weeks Sophie had gone from wearing nappies constantly, to peeing in the potty, to wearing knickers. Then she went back to nappies for a week or so due to us always being out and about, but now she has gone back to potty training with a new twist - the toilet.

Today i hid her potty and i made her go on the toilet. Oh how she screamed (cue the mayhem) and tantrumed (the riot) and when i wasnt looking, she decided to go looting -

Sophie at being found on the kitchen counter surrounded by the evidence of her crimes

The remains of the banana she'd mashed up and the 2 jaffa cakes with bites out of them

And the salt, banana and bubbles she had looted

I tell you - the London rioters 'aint got nothin' on my Sophie!

Anyway i pressed on with the riot against using the toilet and was rewarded as by the time we reached bedtime, she had decided the toilet was her friend after all and was even taking herself off to use it without me! All i could hear was 'bye bye wee wees, see you soon' and a flush of the chain. It was music to my ears.

We will carry this on tomorrow and hopefully my aim of her being fully trained by the time she starts full time nursery in Sept will be reached!

Wish me luck