Oh Poop!

(I wrote this a few weeks ago but held off publishing it in the midst of my Christmas contemplations. Warning: this entry includes potty talk!)

We went out this evening for dinner with some missionary friends who are in town from Africa, and we had a WONDERFUL time and ate a delicious meal and shared our desserts. But a particular trip to the bathroom with my daughter reminded me of the LAST time we went out to eat with friend, which was in Madison, WI, during Thanksgiving week.

It started out harmless. Lucy was relatively well-behaved and in a good mood. Joey had fallen asleep on me and then stayed asleep when I put him back in his car seat. Our food came quickly and was delicious. And then it all started to hit the fan. (And you know what I mean by "it.") Lucy said she had to go potty, and John took her to the bathroom to discover it was too late—she had already gone, and in the process of this discovery ended up smearing poop all down her legs. He tediously cleaned her up and brought her back to the table 'commando' style as her undies were now in the trash can of the men's room. (Fortunately I had a spare pull-up in the diaper bag and she was not allowed to sit until it was on.) Then I started to notice a different smell. This time it was Joey who had woken up and decided to download, as we say, a very full diaper—not just full, but overflowing. Naturally, I didn't discover this crucial fact until I had picked him up. He had poop smeared out the sides of his diaper and into his pants, and as I carried him to the bathroom it proceeded to leak all over my sweater sleeve as well. Once cleaned up as best as I could with water and paper towels, we returned to the table, finished our meal, and packed up to go. Just to top it all off, the wind had shifted while we were inside, so as we walked to our car it was impossible to avoid the fact that the good ol’ Wisconsin air smelled like—you guessed it—poop.

So, tonight was great fun. But as we were distracted by the plentiful plates of food and the good conversation, we missed our darling daughter's awkward stance as she stood next to the table.... And again we were reminded why it is a rare event that we go OUT to eat at this stage in our lives.

Update: Lucy is getting much better about telling us before she has to go. We are getting much better about asking more frequently when we are out. And I always keep a spare pull-up in my diaper bag!