I just got back from being at the mall with my mom, Trey, and Dax. I usually don't get excited about taking the boys out together when I am on my own. But it was supposed to be a quick trip so I thought it would be fine. Trey has been doing well with potty training at home, and not as well other places. But he is fine if I am good about taking him to the bathroom.
So of course, it starts off great. We go to the bathroom in the food court as soon as we get to the mall. We wait for the "family bathroom", go in, do our stuff, Dax is happy in the stroller, Trey is dry, and we clean up and leave. Then we have lunch and both boys do great the whole time. After lunch we go to the one store we came for to quickly get what we need and go, and so I think, "He just went potty so he should be fine until after the store"........mmmmmm, THAT was my mistake. Next time I think "he should be fine" I will ignore myself and take him anyway.
So while we are in the store, he is wandering around, and then says, "poo poo Mommy" (which most of the time means pee pee), and he is holding himself. So I assume the worst- that he is going right this minute, and I yell "STOP!" "Don't go potty! We have to go in the toilet!". And in the past this has actually worked. But it has always been at home where the toilet is just down the hall, or the tree is just across the yard.
So I "inexperiencedly" ask the salesperson if they have a bathroom, and of course they don't and say it is back at the food court! Aaauugh! Of course it is! That's the answer I was dreading. So I tell my mom I have to go, I grab Trey's hand and the stroller with my other, and we run down the hall.
As we go, I am watching the way Trey is running and it seems like he is running with his feet far apart like he doesn't want his legs coming together. But Im not sure, so I hope for the best and we keep running. It seems like forever before we get to the bathrooms, and as I look down at him again I notice that he seems to be running normally again. And before he was grabbing himself and now he isn't! Uh oh. That can't be good. That means his urge went away, but what was the cause? Because it all came out already? I hope not. So we keep running.
And of course when we get there, I am also dreading the door handle to the "family bathroom", worried that it is locked again. And of course, it is! So I make the quick decision to go to the regular bathrooms and hope for the handicapped stall.
We go in and the first stall is open and handicapped so we go in. But it was a small handicapped stall so the stroller didn't fit all the way. But I don't want to waste any more time so I push Dax in partway and leave the door open. I squeeze myself between the stroller and the toilet and Trey is wedged between the toilet and the wall. I can't move the stroller out any more because the door to the stall opens out and blocks everyone from coming in and out of the bathroom. SO I decide this will have to do.
As soon as I squat down in front of the stroller, Dax starts crying because now he sees me and is hungry and wants me to pick him up. Sorry Dax, you'll have to wait. I take off Trey's shorts and see that they are wet. Then I take off his plastic liner which I usually put on him when we leave the house, and I don't see any pee right away so we pull it down. Then I do see pee in it, and as Trey pulls his feet out it flicks pee on me! Oh well. And Trey has gotten into the habit of stepping on his underwear as he takes it off because that is how he gets it off his ankles when he is doing it by himself. And I have noticed this but haven't figured out how to get him to not do it when I am changing him. So of course he steps on the liners as I take them off and gets pee all over his feet and the rest pours out on the floor. And the same thing taking off the soaked underwear- he steps right on them. And Dax is still crying.
So this story is really long now so I'll try to shorten it.
I wipe his legs and feet with a baby wipe- put on the seat cover- I bump it and it falls off- I put Trey on the toilet without a cover- he pees in the toilet- I am trying to reach his clean clothes that are hanging on the bag from the back of the stroller, but i am hitting people with the stall door as they go by staring at me- Dax still crying- I wipe up the pee on the floor-put all the wet clothes in a plastic bag and throw it in the back of the stroller- get Trey off the toilet- put on his new underwear- push Dax out to the sinks and Trey follows (with no shoes on)- Dax is crying- My cell phone vibrates in my pocket but there is no way I am going to answer it- Trey stands on a stool and washes his hands- I rinse his liner in the sink- dry it under the blowdryer as the water just shoots back up into my face- wipe it with a papertowel because the blowdryer didn't do a thing- pull them on Trey as he is lying over the sink with his legs hanging down- Pull on his shorts- put on his shoes- help him actually wash his hands instead of playing in the water- pull him down and realize there is water all over his shirt- Grab his hand and the stroller and we leave- I realize I never washed my hands- Dax is still crying but stops since we are moving again.
So I know this is just the first one of many, but at least I learned some things from it:
- Next time I think "he should be fine" I will ignore myself and take him anyway
- I won't take the small stall- either a large handicapped stall or the "family" one.
Well, I guess those might be the only things I can control. The rest I will just have to deal with, at least until I get more experience doing this and learn all the cool tricks! Feel free to give me any cool tricks you know about because I sure could use them!
Jen
He finished the swim and then got ready for the bike. He wasn't hurrying and not many people were. So we're not really sure what a real triathlon is like during the transitions. Im sure it is much more structured and faster than this.
Here he goes on his bike! "179" are Blazeman's numbers so everyone had them written on their body somewhere to remember him.
Great Job Matty!
