public restrooms

I have always been an "out and about" type of gal.

After I had the twins I was ready to get out to the stores as soon as I could stand up straight

after the c-section.  

This happened to be about 3 weeks after the babes were born.

After Naomi was born I was a bit slower getting out and about

but I certainly was ready to get out once I was feeling slightly back to normal.

My mom, sister and I would strap the babies into their seats and head out to town.

We galavanted to all our favorite spots:

Target, Sally's, Goodwill, KMart.

We knew all the good spots in the stores for when any of the kiddos needed their mama milk in privacy.

We knew which stores were the best for a diaper change.

We knew which stores were NOT good for those things as well.

We were a well-oiled machine of teamwork and it was a happy, tiring time!

I still enjoy getting out with the kids only now I don't have my mom and sister to galavant with.

It's just my littles and me.

In some respect it's a lot easier to get out with them.

They can walk so we don't  have to lug a stroller around.

They can talk instead of cry when they're hungry or tired.

On the flip side as they age there are new challenges

because now they are more aware of what is out there to want and "need".

They also have nostrils that now recognize delicious smells wafting from Auntie Anne's pretzels.

They also have the ability to touch things all.the.time. because they have short term memory loss.

In other words, they forget quite frequently what "don't touch anything" means.

Something else that I find harder now that the kids are older (yet not totally independent of my help) is the

public restroom.

I dread the public restroom visits.

I groan when any of the kids tell me they need to go "so bad" to the bathroom.

It hardly ever fails that, upon entering the dreaded bathroom,

the strong odors of restroom hits us.

There are always those certain stalls that are deemed gross.

And there's always the seat inspection.  You know what I'm talking about.

Can I get a witness?

It's such a process with kids.

1. You have to hurry to put a roll of toilet paper carefully onto the seat

so that your kid's precious bum doesn't become a target for bad germs.

2. You have to carefully put the child just right onto the seat. 

You don't want the toilet paper you painstakingly put on the seat to fall off.

3. You have to remind your child to not touch anything, please!

4. Your child will want privacy so you have to exit the stall and hold onto the door so that

it doesn't swing open.

You feel as though you've hit the jackpot (no pun intended) when the door stays shut 

on it's own!

5. Then, you hope that it's all just #1 duty that's being done so you can get

out of the bathroom fast.

6. You wait in front of the stall for the fantastic words to be uttered,

"Mama, I'm done."

7. You get your child down off the giant comode, wash hands and get outta there.

Am I right??

Can anyone relate to this?

But however annoying it is to visit the public restroom, it is always fun to get out of the house for a while

with my kids.

They are good shoppers and rarely cause me any embarrassment!

(I sure hope I didn't speak too soon.)