Let The Store Bans Continue

Y'all may remember when I had to switch grocery stores for a while. I guess we all knew it was destined to happen again, but this time it's much, much worse - it happened at...gasp!...Target.

I know. It's heartbreaking, truly heartbreaking.

Princess G had just about mastered potty training, so much so that we went to Target for the Grand Choosing-O'-The-New-Panties ceremony that is the gold medal moment, so to speak, of the Potty Training Olympics. It also was her first time going out to a store sans pull-up, so I was prepared. We'd gone potty right before leaving the house, and I had extra panties and a Ziploc bag in the diaper (actually just clean clothes & wipes) bag, but given how well she'd been doing the past few days, I felt confident we could do it.

That confidence, of course, is the kiss of death in Mommy-land.

Princess G goes marching down the Target aisle, new packages of Disney Princess (what else?) panties in hand, just proud as punch. I stopped to look at something, only to hear Princess E scream, "Mom, she's tinkling!"

Yep, poor Princess G was standing in the middle of a huge puddle, still clutching the prized panties, bottom lip quivering and eyes starting to fill with tears. "Mommy, I tinkled," she said with such sadness you'd have thought she'd just peed on Cinderella herself.

I rushed to give her a hug, lift her out of the puddle and assure her that everything was okay and we'd get her changed and dry in a jiffy. But of course, I also had to figure out how to clean up the huge puddle on the floor. Fortunately, this was Target - lots of employees around in easily spotted bright red shirts. Of course, the two closest to us happened to be about ten minutes out of diapers themselves - and both of them gave me this "Eeewww" look when I told them what happened while profusely apologizing. One ambled off to get the cleaning equipment, while the other called for "cleaning backup" on her walkie-talkie and walked over to see the damage, the sight of which caused another little sneer to appear on her face. Fortunately, Princess G didn't notice the brat...excuse me, I mean, employee...or she would have felt even worse about her accident.

I didn't even stay to see the full cleanup - I just got the Princess to the restroom, got her all cleaned up and changed, bought our new panties and headed out. Princess G recovered nicely, especially after downing a chocolate milkshake, which we all know fixes just about everything when you're two (pretty good for what ails you when you're 38, actually). We'll be heading to the other area Target for the next few weeks, just to be sure we're not on some Cleaning Crew Hit List at that particular store.

And for the charming and sympathetic teenage employees we encountered, I wish for them a future filled with a little more compassion, a couple of new mops...and two-year-old triplets with seriously full bladders.