Anyone who has been an avid reader of this blog since its inception a year ago would immediately know what this title means. That's right...its another poopie story. I just can't seem to get away from them.
We were having a beautiful, hot, sunny afternoon here in Texas. My friend invited us over to swim at her Dad's pool. Wow! Great idea! So, its just us two moms (my friend is six months pregnant). Two 6 year old boys (fish). One 4 year old boy who is very anxious about the water and therefore wears as much gear as he can find to go into the pool with (1 inner-tube, 2 flippers, 1 pair of goggles, 1 snorkle) yet never gets his head wet. One 3 year old wearing a wet-suit like thing with floaties all around it because he thinks he can swim, but really, he can't - so, we are just fostering his belief by allowing him to swim, unassisted with his precious Spiderman swim helper (obviously, this my son, Bennett). And lastly, on this beautiful day, we have two little toddlers who cannot swim and are always in the mommy's arms or sitting on the steps, ready at any moment, to vicariously fall into the pool. My friend's Dad has also come out to join us and play with the older two boys. He is Capture Man and loves to capture superheroes (which our sons believe they are). There, the back drop is set...now the story begins....
Everything is perfect, therefore, in my world, that means that something is about to go wrong. Right on cue, Bennett calls over to me, "Mommy, I need to go poo-ie". I hand Chloe off to my friend and run over to the bathroom with Bennett. Thankfully, there is an entrance to the bathroom right off the patio, so we don't have to worry about getting his nice floors all wet. One thing about Bennett, when he gets the urge to go - he has to go immediately. That being said...I am hurridly trying to peel this wet suit off my son when he tells me "Mommy, please don't take it off inside out." Oh, now we're suddenly conscience of our clothes being inside out?, I think to myself. Yet, with all the motherly affection I can muster I tell him, "Don't worry honey, Mommy is doing her best to keep it the right way." With that assurance, he allows me to pull his legs out of this silly contraption that is stuck to him like glue with the pant holes inside out. He even waited to get on the potty until his suit was in 'proper order'. He's not even on the potty for 5 seconds before he tells me "I don't have any poo-ies mommy." I'm like, "Yes you do and you will sit there a little longer. I'm still wiping the sweat off my brow from trying to take your Spiderman suit off." So he obediently complies, while I try to stall and pray his 'urge' returns.
Sadly, it does not and we go thru the whole rigor-ma-roll of trying to get the suit back on. In hindsight, I should never have left that bathroom. Never let him convince me he really didn't have to go anymore. Maybe never even accepted the swimming invitation. But life is about learning lessons and evidently, I have many, many more to learn.
I am now completely dry since that whole escapade took about 20 minutes. Both of us hop back into the pool and commence the fun yet again. We are not in the pool 2 minutes when I hear Bennett say (rather quietly), " I have poo-ies mommy". I thought I heard him say he had to go again. But after further investigation, I noticed he was telling me that he had already gone poopie. Last time I checked, there was not a large bump sticking out from the back of the Spiderman wet-suit, yet there was now. A wave of nausea hits me as I try to reach him on the other side of the pool. Thankfully, I didn't throw up in the pool. Poopie and throw-up in the pool all in one day would definately not get us invited back ever again.
At this point, everything is slow motion. All the other poopie episodes flash before me and I think to myself "I thought we were past this" and "well, I guess I've got the material for my next blog". Bennett and I finally make it to the bathroom once again. This time I'm not quite as cheery and optimistic as the last time. I really could care less if his suit gets inside out. I ask him to stand there momentarily while I take a deep breath and try to analyze the situation to determine what needs to be done. The first thing I think is that I'm glad it was this pool and not the public pool - that would really cause a scene. They would have to blow those loud whistles, get everyone out and decontaminate the pool, all while everyone is staring at us. That sceanrio sent shivers down my spine. I could deal with this one. My second thought was, "I'm going to have to get this mass out of his suit - ughhh!!!". And, if I can remember correctly, my last thought was "will Bennett ever be potty-trained?"
Here is where God stepped in and gave me grace for the moment. Because all I wanted to do was yell at him about how he was old enough and how this should never happen and how he should have gone the first time. Thankfully, He gently reminded me that Bennett is still only three, is still learning, and that he needs my love and understanding in this moment, not my judgement and condemnation (that could make this whole potty-training adventure that much longer). It was at this point Bennett told me that he didn't know it happened, it just did. I told him that mistakes happen and that I forgive him and am not mad at him. Evidently, he was very mad at himself and embarassed and really needed the assurance from me that he was still loved and accepted.
Thankfully, it was one solid mass and I was able to dispose of it without too much fan fair. I ripped the suit off of Bennett and told him that Daddy would have to clean it - I wasn't even going to go there. I'm so glad that I had the presence of mind to bring a dry change of clothes for the children. We quietly left the bathroom while I retrieved the rest of my children and told them it was time to leave even though we had only been there for 20 minutes (and most of that, Bennett & I had spent in the bathroom). Gavin was a little puzzled by our sudden need to leave and was putting up a little fight. I was trying to be discreet because I didn't want Bennett to be even further embarassed. I whispered to him to please do as I say, Bennett had a little accident and we need to leave now. He was semi-satisfied with that and went to get changed. As we were preparing to leave and saying our good-byes, Bennett laments, rather loudly, that he doesn't want to leave. And Gavin, always ready with an answer, replies, "Well, if you hadn't poopied in the ..... " (the rest is garbled because my hand was over his mouth). I asked him to be considerate of his brother and not tell everyone about what he did (because evidently, not everyone saw the large protrusion extending from Bennett's butt).
Lessons learned:
1. bring my own hazerdous materials waste disposal kit everywhere I go
2. grace is a gift, give it freely
3. my children are a gift, enjoy every moment - even the poopie ones
