The night my food got peed on

It was the last night of VBS and L needed to be picked up at 7:30. We normally eat dinner anywhere between 6:45-7:15 (proof I would have made a terrible 50s housewife) but today it was even a bit later than that so Andre was not going to be able to eat with us. No big deal, he could eat when he got back.

We had just started potty training E that week and it was pretty much a roller coaster. Some big successes and just as many epic failures. But she was trying and at least making some progress so we were fine with her taking it slow. That particular day she had two successes and two accidents so by the time dinner rolled around I was pretty tired from the day – cleaning things up with three other kids running around is not easy.

Anyway, I did the usual mom thing, get the kids all the things – plate full of food (sausage, rice and asparagus, an easy winner for my kids) and something to drink but I forgot the forks and therefore had to be reminded by my sweet boy that I had really failed the entire meal by forgetting this… - and then finally went to get my own plate. We prayed, I picked up my fork and E started making “the noise”. The “I’m about to pee in this underwear if I haven’t already” noise. So I jumped up from my seat to grab her and since the easiest way for me to get her to the bathroom was if I lifted her over the table, that’s what I did. What I didn’t anticipate was the thought that she was actually already peeing and therefore me lifting her over the table got pee on said table…and my food. Yep, underneath the trail of pee across the table was my plate which, although not visible right away, had to have been the connector of the trail.

So here I am, tired (I’m super pregnant so anything makes me tired), hungry and frustrated with the failures of the day and ANDRE IS STILL NOT HOME FROM PICKING UP L! I clean her up, do my best not to get more upset with her because she’s already pretty embarrassed, dump my entire plate of untouched yet peed on food into the trash and start again.

When I tell this story now, I cannot help but laugh (I was definitely NOT laughing when it happened. I was pretty much in tears). I’ve been a parent for 6.5 years and this was the first experience of its kind to happen to me. But you know what? E is fine. I ate. She ate. Everyone ate.

The things I’ve learned: Don’t carry your child over the table while potty training. But also, as much as the situation sucks when it happens, odds are you will look back and think, well, that’s a great story for the calendar.