Potty Blues (UPDATED)

My little monkey will be 3.5 in a few weeks. My 1st born, my little stubborn, brilliant, sensitive, train-loving little guy is growing up. Yet we are still working VERY hard on potty training. Yes, potty training. He knows the alphabet and can count to 15, but has REFUSED to be potty trained. Like many other parents, we've tried a million techniques. None have worked.

Yesterday out of desperation we tried 3 new things. 1. Alexander is only wearing a t-shirt in the house. 2. His potty is in the living room. He had a few "accidents" and then I pulled out my trump card. 3. Mother's Guilt. I threw a (fake) bawling Mommy, pity party extraordinaire. (Yes, I know I'll probably send him into therapy later). He was so concerned for Mom that he gave me his brand new favorite little car. He asked Mom to stop crying, "don't be so sad Mom." Nothing worked. Mom was too sad. Then a small miracle happened. He sat down on his potty and went. "Look Mom, I went pee. That will make you happy!" It did. So far, he's not had another accident and we may move into big boy underpants today!

I learned 2 things yesterday. He's perfectly capable of being potty trained (duh). It's just been an inconvenience to stop playing. Take away the pants or diapers and move the potty into the play room (for now) and we eliminate 2 big barriers to learning this skill. And, Mother's Guilt works.

UPDATE:
Mommy's Guilt DOES NOT in fact work for more than 5 minutes and then Mommy is left feeling guilty for-ever.
Do they make toddler sized boxers? Little boy underwear just doesn't seem to be working (too hard to manage I suppose).
Commando IS an option.
Parenting is hard.