Outings with a 3 Year Old

   I normally leave my two girls with Grandma when I need to run to the big city to do errands.  They have fun and I get a short break.  It's almost surreal to get out of the van and not have to unbuckle 4 buckles and drag two little people into the store.
   Well, yesterday, I decided, as I was waking up, that I couldn't face another long day cooped up inside our house.  I decided that I was going to take the girls to a play place and have a fun day.
   I thought about calling Grandma to see if she wanted to join us.  I decided against it because it was such short notice.  BIG MISTAKE!  I knew better and I should have listened to the voice whispering warnings in my ear.
   We got to the fun place and it wasn't open yet.  No problem!  We'll just do a quick Target run.  We got our goop and as we were standing in the checkout line, I had the presence of mind to ask my 3 year old if she had to use the restroom.  She nodded an affirmative.
   Target has the most wonderful restrooms for families!  It's a private restroom and it's BIG!  Enough room to fit everyone in.  I could about kiss the Target CEO who approved such a room.
   I was patting myself on the back for catching such a thing before it turned into disaster.  It would be the last time I was so foresighted.
   We had a wonderful time playing at the play place!  We spent 2 hours climbing, jumping, sliding, and swinging!  Mommy even got in on some of the action!  After all, on the big jumpy things, you have to accompany your children... what a sacrifice!  Watching my 1.5 year old zoom down the slides was great fun!  She's got a bit more spunk than her older sister.  The bigger and more dangerous something appears, the more fun she has conquering it!  It amazes me that someone so little can be so brave.  Her whole body practically vibrates with excitement when she spies a slide.
   It was time to go.  I got 'em packed into the van and we went to the middle of town to the mall.  I wanted to eat at the food court because I was hungry for Chinese food.  Before we left the fun place, I wondered if I was being a bit too brave for my britches.  Turns out that, YES, I was being too optimistic.
   Our parking spot was fairly far away from the entrance.  So I plopped the little one into a stroller and the big one was a bit jealous.  I popped the little one out and plopped the big one in.  Of course the little one decided that she wanted to ride.  I put the little one on the big one's lap and away we went!
   I ordered my food and went to a different restaurant to get the girls something.  I navigated my crew over to a table and unpacked the food.
   Ever notice how when you're just at home with your kids, your 3 year old hardly ever has to go to the bathroom?  Yes, well, after I had everything and everybody situated, my precious girl whose bladder is usually made of iron pipes up, "Mommy, I have to go potty real bad!"
   I am ashamed to admit it, but I got mad.  I told her to wait, but she insisted that it was urgent.  I quickly repacked our food, quietly chewing her out for not speaking up a bit sooner.  Put our coats back on, balanced our drinks, put the little one in the stroller, gathered my purse and the diaper bag, and off we headed to the bathroom.
   I know that she didn't know better.  I know that, but I find it so frustrating sometimes that she has to have my help in this area of life.  I caught myself muttering about how, "I can't wait until you're old enough to do this on your own!" and "WHY didn't I bring Grandma?"  or "Why didn't I just get food and take it home to eat?".  The whole time as I stomped off to the ladies room, God was tapping on my shoulder telling me to enjoy this phase of life and to let this minor frustration go because, "Give the kid a break!  She's only 3 for pity's sake!"  I bit my lip and conceded His point.  But not without a bit more grumbling.  I looked at her and decided to try to enjoy her littleness.  She really is a darling!
   We need to stop at the grocery store for a bit.  We are at the back of the store.  You know, as far away from a restroom as a person can physically be.  Anyway, my child informs me that she again has to "go".  I'm thinkin', "Seriously?  You just went 15 minutes ago!"  My sense of peace gained from the last go 'round jumped right out the window.  I was frustrated again.  (God has a sense of humor.)
   This time I told her in no uncertain terms that she was going to wait.  Which she graciously did.  I got my items and just as I was grabbing the receipt from the cashier, my child reminds me that she needs to "go".
   Again, this makes me mad.  Why didn't she remind me before I paid for the groceries?  It makes me nervous to leave a cart of paid for groceries sitting without someone to guard them.  Again, this disaster could have been averted had she spoken up just 3 minutes earlier or if I had stinkin' remembered that she needed to use the bathroom!
   So, I did another thing I'm not proud of, I told her that I would put her pull-up on her in the van and she could do her business in that.  She informed me that that was a bad plan because she needed to "stinky".  I'm sure that you could hear my groan clear in Mexico.
   I ran the groceries out to the van and locked 'em in.  We came back and visited the restroom.  After admonishing the little one to not touch anything (public bathrooms give me the creeps), which she cheerfully ignored.  I wiped their hands with 4 or 5 germ-x wipes.  We headed out to the van.  I was praising God that we had made it to 4 different places and were still alive!
   Anyway, we made it home!  We had a fun time in spite of our bathroom escapades!  I learned a very valuable lesson through it all... NEVER GO ANYWHERE WITHOUT REINFORCEMENTS!  That and if today was all I had, then I want my girls to know that they are loved.  Face it, children can be an inconvenience at times, but just take one look into their little faces or grab their little trusting hands, and they are worth it all!