How's the potty training going?

Strange picture, huh? Well, this is what potty training has come to in our house. Hopefully, this will be a comfort to those of you out there struggling with potty training your child! This is our third, and each time has been different, although this time is reminiscent of potty training Evan. Evan would pee on the potty with no problem, but then go to another area of our house (usually behind a chair) poop and BRING IT TO ME IN HIS HANDS!!!! This is the answer to the question "How in the world did Paula loosen up in her parenting????" Ann-Marie, on the other hand, potty trained herself. On the day Alec was born, Darrell brought her into my hospital room. She looked at baby Alec and looked at me and proclaimed, "There is the baby! I'm not the baby anymore! Mommy, I need to go to the potty." That was it for her and she was 2 1/2 years old.

Now back to Alec. He keeps himself dry like a champ, but refuses to poop on the potty. For the past several months we have tried EVERYTHING! Stickers, reward charts, bribes, M&Ms, making him stay in the bathroom (the article I read said the average child will have a bowel movement within 30 minutes of the power struggle....we went over an hour!), etc., etc., etc. In a moment of insanity, I told Alec that every time he pooped in his pants, one of his beloved cars would be put on the top of our book shelf where he could see them, but not play with them. He has been told that if he poops in the potty, he gets them back. Can you count how many vehicles are on our book shelf now? He might not have any toys left to play with by Christmas! I wonder where he gets his stubbornness from??????