poop in the park

You know I have become quite proud of my veteran mom status, and have been a little too proud of how light I am able to travel.  You know;.. you smile condescendingly at those first-time mom’s who carry around everything but the kitchen sink.  Yet, today I think I might have gone out the door a little “too light”.  

My independent 2-year old who is in the middle of potty training, insisted on wearing her “big girl underwear” out to breakfast; just the two of us.  Hmm.   OK, well, I did make sure that there were pull-ups in the car, and I do actually keep a potty in my trunk.  But I walked out the door without a phone (a little foreshadowing).   And, I did not even check to see if there were wipes in the car much less in my purse.  No, I travel light remember? 

Well, got through breakfast with no problems.  Then stopped at the park to continue that great one-on-one time together.  Love that “good mom” feeling.  Having such a good time……  Then Hannah stopped and looked at me with that “I have a big poo poo” face.  

Me:  Hannah, do you have to go potty?

Hannah:   Mommy, I feel much better…

Oh, no this is not good.  I take a deep breath as I realize that the next 15 minutes of my life are going to be really stinky! 

I know that poop is the big topic of all parents of toddlers, and you are saying what is the big deal.  And this is certainly not the messiest of my poop experiences.  But I am almost 40!  And I have been dealing with poop for the last 12 of those 40 years!  And frankly, I am TIRED of getting poop on my hands!!!!  And I have AT LEAST 3 more years of poop to deal with!

So, I took a breath and just got through it.   I picked up that baby and carried her (quickly) to the car.  We took off those poopy underwear and sat her little tushy on the potty in the trunk, while I looked in the car for something clean to wipe her down with.  This is the one time I was truly grateful that my kids treat our car like a dumping ground.  I was able to locate an old cup of water, and a leftover paper towel from G-d knows what.  And we just dealt with that poop.  And then, to prove to myself that it really was okay, I put all the poopy stuff into the potty, closed the lid, put on a pull-up (on Hannah not on me) and went back to the park.  And I lived through it.  Until next time…………..