SUNDAY – This could be one of the grossest things I have ever written about but I am going to try to keep my PG rating! Actually I probably don’t have to get too graphic because I’m pretty sure most of my readers will get the story line real quick.
It’s sunny Sunday morning and the family is going out for breakfast! I mean what could be more fun than sitting in a public restaurant with two kids under the age of 5 ? And while you are still waiting for your Eggs Benedict, they have already eaten their scrambled eggs with cheese and now want to get up from the table and although permission denied, they do… I thought about that familial scenario and then thought better of it after all. “See y’all later”.
About 2 hours later, I received a phone call from Chiara and she told me there was an art show in town that she and Tom were going to and did I want to come along? It is sunny and not too hot so sounds like a plan to me. As soon as we debark from the vehicle and take a few steps towards the art exhibits, Chiara notices that there’s a playground and I held my breath – surely they didn’t come back and pick me up so I could watch the kids at the playground while they walked around the Art Show! NO, of course not, had you going there for a minute, huh?
Tom took the girls to the playground and Chiara and I moved through the tents of rather uninspiring paintings and mediocre pottery. There were shockingly bright acrylic flowers, pastel beach with palm trees and flamingoes, dark abstracts done in oils, and some jewelry. Out of nowhere this woman jumps in front of us and screams, “I LOVE that bag! Where did you get it”? Chiara was carrying NOT one of her designer bags but rather a gold-studded handbag, hobo style. This exchange brought us into her jewelry booth. Very unusual pieces; I liked two of the original-design bracelets and Chiara was taken with some stacking rings.
And then the text came dinging in….She pooped!! Everybody poops or so the book says. There are so many books out now for toddlers all about pooping and peeing and the potty. Whatever happened to The Saggy Baggy Puppy? Anyway, Frankie has a habit of NOT pooping for days on end. This time she was out to set a record fighting against all odds to hold onto her poop. Chiara has been pumping her full of Miralax everyday and yet Frankie prevailed. That was, until today. Chiara raced out of the booth with me on her heels. There stood Frankie with a big smile on her face and greeted us with “I poop”. GREAT, WONDERFUL BUT no diaper, no wipes, no public bathroom. What’s a mom to do? What all mothers do, she pulled down the pamper, wiped her with as many tissues as I had and when it was apparent that we could not put this child in the car (yet), Chiara walked over to the boardwalk, cupped her hand in the water and splashed Frankie’s tooshie with some water. Not exactly the circumstances one would hope for in this situation but you do what you gotta do.

Everyone Poops (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Frankie was happy, Mommy would be happy when she could wash her hands and so with the windows open we drove home.
The End
I will miss your Fl stories when you head north.
That reminds me of the time Matt and I took Ethan who was 5 and Sam who was 2 to a playground in Alexandria where they had the BEST time!!!!!! (Yes all those exclamation points because they really loved that place.) Sammy, particularly, was loving the see-saw and we couldn’t get him off. It went on for at least 1/2 hour, maybe more. Finally we got them back to the car to find that Sammy had pooped – a long time before. All that time on his tush on the see-saw going up and down with that poop. Needless to say his tushy was so red, so raw, and we only had a few wipes to wash him with, but that was not good, anyway, because he was so raw. I think the 2 lessons here are 1) never leave the house (when you have a kid still in diapers) without plenty of wipes and extra diapers (especially when you have a car to store them in) and 2) keep some baby wash in the car and bottles of water – just in case you have to deal with diaper rash. (Sammy, by the way, has since pooped on the toilet, so his diaper days are almost completely over.)
Oops, I hit submit too soon. That post was not by Anonymous, it was by me, Stacey.