The power of a sticker!

We have been battling with Zack for what seems to have been months now about him going to the bathroom - I mean, he does it, but only on his own terms. He waits until the last second. He'll do the potty dance, the pants grab, the uncomfortable stand, and even the "I can't walk right now" move, but if you tell him to go, he refuses. It's a power struggle that gets ugly. After many stories on how it's not good for him, and he'll have to go see the doctor, or even worse, have surgery and stay in the hospital (!) I finally remembered something that worked well with Sydney... the sticker chart!! Sydney was the queen of the sticker charts, and I can't remember a time when they didn't have great results. I guess I keep forgetting the difference in the kid's ages since Sydney is in Kindergarten and Zack tries to do a lot of things that his big sister does. Well, I made a chart with 12 spots on it, and told him he'll get a sticker everytime he goes to the bathroom without asking, or even if we ask and he doesn't refuse. Boy, that worked like a charm. First thing he does is hops out of bed and gots to the bathroom in the morning. Then he goes again after breakfast! He is really proud of his accomplishment, and the best thing is that he gets that sticker that brings him one step closer to the prize - going to Walmart and picking out a Matchbox car (we were there last weekend and they had a big display of them, for only 97 cents!!). What a deal. After that chart, another one will go up with the "grand prize" of a day with Mommy which involves a trip to the "train" library. I hope this reinforcement has a lasting effect :)