Monday, September 29, 2008

Mortifying Moment

On Friday, Andrew needed to work late and since the boys and I were already downtown for Calvin's speech therapy, we decided to meet him for dinner at the mall. I needed to buy a couple things for Ty and a few baby gifts. We enjoyed dinner - it was the food court, the company was the most enjoyable :) and then headed to Children's Place. (On a side note - this is my absolute favorite place to buy clothes for the kids...the prices are usually pretty good, the sales are great, and the quality is excellent - especially on jeans and pants!)

I did most of the shopping while Andrew entertained C & P - Titus slept in the stroller. Did I mention that I love this store? :) It took me a little bit to make gift decisions but finally we all made our way to the counter. I had a couple of questions about some items and after the clerk checked on them, she started ringing up our purchases. The boys were playing by the counter and Calvin let me know that he needed to go to the bathroom, I asked if he could wait a minute (he usually can), and I think he said yes. The boys went back to goofing off... About 30 seconds later, Andrew and I look over in horror as Calvin says, "I go potty." Yep, big puddles (yep, plural!) in front of the counter at Children's Place, a soaking wet boy and a brother playing in it, playing in it. I truly wanted the floor to open up and swallow us all. I was mortified. Andrew immediately stopped Patrick from the puddle play, I quickly paid while trying desperately to explain to the lady what happened. It went something like this:

Me: I am so sorry. My son just had an accident.
Clerk: It's okay, we'll take care of it.
Me: No, I mean, there's pee all over your floor...
Clerk: Really, it's okay. We'll clean it up.

What a kind lady - perhaps she could sense my utter horror at what had just happened. Anyway, I gave her a grateful look and hurried our crew out of the store. Andrew was practically laughing at how incredibly embarrassed I was - he manages to see the humor when I sometimes can't which is a good thing. :)

I know that part of the moral of the story is to not make a kid wait...but we do have a proven track record with Calvin - if he says he can wait, he usually can. He just doesn't have accidents very often at all so this was definitely out of the ordinary - thankfully I had clean and dry stuff in the car. I'm sure it won't be the last mortifying moment but my goodness, it was a doozy.

13 comments:

Jenna said...

That's funny (not being in the moment)... but at least it happened in Children's Place. I am sure your child was not the first and will not be the last to have such an accident in their store.

Paula said...

The childrens place is my FAVORITE store too! I don't have a store near me, so I shop online, but yes, they are great. Yes, I would have been embarassed too. I remember that happened to me with my older daughter, but it didn't make a pool on the floor. Her outfit got soaked and we had to leave the party. Oh well, pee happens!

Kim said...

This is funny (now) but I would have totally freaked out too. Noah is good for holding it but lesson learned by your story.

Children's Place is great. I love their jeans and the adjustable waste. :)

Heather said...

Andrew walked by my desk just after I read this. . . I told him I hesitate to tell you how hard I was laughing. However, that is purely b/c it did not happen to me. If it were to have happened to me - I would have been mortified as well.

Katie @ Heart Gone Walking said...

OH MY WORD! I'm sorry but I laughed so hard at this one. I hope:
A. you have more guts than me and can show up to your favorite store again
or B. there's another location close to you

Jill said...

Well, us having three just went out the door!! LOL!! I am guessing that they have seen it all! Thanks for the good laugh...I hope I can give you a couple in the future!!

Merrilee said...

Remember that story and use it to mortify Calvin and Patrick when they start dating....

It is a funny story, though!

Anonymous said...

I laughed out loud... I apologize. I shouldn't laugh at your expense. :)
In all seriousness, though, it is a children's store, and there are probably accidents like that ALL. THE. TIME.
Yeah, hope you can go there again (they've probably already forgotten).

Heather L. said...

SO funny!!! But i would have been very embarrassed too! They probably deal with that all the time -- maybe they even get training for it. :) :) Presently we have one toilet leaking water all through our garage ceiling -- oh my! I have no idea what we are going to do.......

CityStreams said...

Poor thing! And they played in it? Wow. I distinctly remember wetting a changing room floor once as a little girl. My mom and I were both mortified. We left the store without even purchasing anything and were too ashamed to tell anyone. We ran for it!

Anonymous said...

There once was a boy named Calvin
Who said he needed to go
He thought he could wait
But it was too late
Children's Place was gracious though!

There once was a mother named Alaina
Embarrassed by her plight
She told the cashier
Who said do not fear
So she gladly made her flight.

Anonymous said...

Wow, my mom's such a poet! haha She's crazy! See you in a few weeks!!!! :D

Erin K. said...

I can empathize. Last weekend we went to a really nice restaurant for my parents' 40th anniversary. The restaurant is in an 1850's mansion and the furniture matches the time period. We were horrified to discover that Kaitlyn's diaper had somehow leaked onto the vintage fabric-covered chair!!!! There was a huge pool that had soaked into it!

Thankfully, our waitress reacted like the lady in the store - she was very gracious about the whole thing.

Thanks for the reminder about the Children's Place - I almost never go to the mall so I don't think about it as a shopping option. I'll have to check it out!