Parents Should Always Prepare For The Unexpected

I’m excited to be sharing the third and final lesson in my Parenthood Series. If you missed the first two lessons here they are Lesson 1 and Lesson 2. I once again encourage you to see the humor in these learning experiences. Furthermore, you have my permission to crack-up with hilarity at my expense…

Recently my middle daughter started Kindergarten, this was a very emotional time for me. She was my preemie baby and since birth, it has felt like she has always been too little to let go. If you are a Kindergarten mom or soon to be one, be sure to read my post Kindergarten Moms – You Are Going To Be Ok. I was the only one struggling with this new way of life, my daughter was eagerly anticipating going to school with her big sister.

After a few weeks went by I knew my little one was adjusting well, both my emotions and my habit of overthinking had started settling down. We had managed to establish a routine, everything was going great. You see, that’s the funny thing about Motherhood, it has a way of taking any stable moment or routine and adding diarrhea to the equation! No, seriously.

I received a call from the school towards the very end of the school day. They wanted me to know that my kindergartner had an accident in her pants and I would need to come and pick her up. It was very unlike my daughter to have an accident but I have three kids so I can honestly say I was not surprised. These things come up you just have to be prepared.

Be prepared! That is wonderful advice, right? It’s great advice but only if applied. I knew to be prepared, I had been trained by the last 8 years of motherhood for moments like these. I rushed around looking for keys, loaded my youngest in the car, and then I ran inside for a towel. My prepared plan was to pick my daughter up from school, sit her on a towel in the car, and then shower her when we got home. When I was reaching for a towel I had two options, the hand towel or the large towel. Let me just help any mother or future mother out, always take the BIG towel!

I got to the school, went directly to the nurse’s station and was told that my daughter was in the bathroom. I went in to check on her and suddenly my plan to address the mess at home was out of the question! Before my arrival, my daughter had gotten sick to her stomach and needed to sit on the potty. She tried taking off her already messy clothes which had created a much larger mess that neither of us could walk away from. During this struggle, she had been unable to make it to the potty on time and now there was also a new mess on the floor. Hand shaped poo prints dotted the wall and toilet! What was once a white bathroom now showcased indescribable shades of brown!

Always carry an extra change of clothes, baby wipes, and when you are given the choice to take the little towel or the big towel, ALWAYS GO FOR THE BIG TOWEL! You should hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Go to sleep hoping for 8 hours but know you might only get 3. Make those avocado brownies and hope the family loves them, but be prepared that instead, they might ban you from the kitchen. You can hope your kids will love the expensive toy you bought them but be ready for when they just play with the box.

It took me 20 minutes to clean the mess up at school that day, and then I wrapped my naked 5-year-old in the small hand towel and ran as fast I could with my 3 kids to the car. My little girls bare bottom was probably seen by the entire school pick up line.

Lesson learned, be prepared moms! Oh, and don’t forget to laugh, because it’s a heck of a lot better than crying!