Well, after taking stock of the children’s closets, I came to the frightening conclusion that the kids have nothing that still fits them for the cooler weather. They’re growing like weeds! So last night, DH, DD, DS and I made a pilgrimage to Target to stock up on some cold weather duds.

We hit the shoe department first. Apparently, DD was so taken with the idea of purchasing new shoes that she tried to put off going to the bathroom. “Can we use the potty when we get to Grandma and Pop-Pop’s?” She asks out of the blue.

Now, how would any sane mother respond to this question? Take her child to the bathroom right then.

What did I say?

“Sure, Honey. We can use the potty when we get to Grandma’s.”

Duh.

Apparently, the Hello Kitty shoes we were eyeing were so cute, they were having an adverse affect on both of our judgment skills. As I reached over to try the aforementioned shoes on DD, I discovered she was standing in a puddle. That’s right folks. We created a puddle on the carpet in Target. I have to admit, I was at a loss for a few seconds. DD rarely ever has accidents. I can think of only three other times since she has been trained that she had a full on, standing in a puddle accident outside our home. One of those times was at a friend’s house, one was at Disney last year (that was a hoot), and one was in a relative’s backyard. All of those times I had spare clothes handy, and clean up was easy. This time, it took me a few seconds to figure out my plan of attack. We could take pants and underwear off the rack to purchase and put on her right away, but my daughter was currently dripping and crying. The logistics of purchasing merchandise to take into the bathroom for a clothing change seemed a bit time consuming and complicated. I opted to get my daughter as dry as I could and just figure it out from there – and the nearest bathroom was half a store’s length away.

So I pick up my big, forty some-odd pound, soaked daughter and carry her awkwardly across the store. Picture what a person would look like attempting to swiftly carry a heavy, biohazardous device out of a public area – that was me. All the while trying to avoid the looks of amusement, pity and horror from fellow shoppers.

So we reach the bathroom. Let me tell you, if there was ever a time I felt fully justified using the handicapped stall in the bathroom, it was now. I get my daughter situated in the stall, and step out to the sink to rinse the soaked pants. As I’m wringing them out and wondering about my next step in this process, I hear the din of a forced air hand dryer across the bathroom.

Jackpot!

I step up to the Accelerdry 2000 and get to work. Thankfully there were two, and no other Target patrons were inconvenienced by my little project. They didn’t get completely dry, but they were passable.

Now, under normal circumstances we probably would have just thrown in the towel and left after such a harrowing experience. But like I said, the kids have NO clothes for the cooler weather. We kept on shopping, damp daughter and all.

And yes, we did get the Hello Kitty shoes.