ah...what fun!

So, I don't think this counts as one of the "joys of motherhood" but, it is one of those moments that can define motherhood (or really any caretaker of small children's 'hood). Let me set the scene for you.

Warning: the rest of this post may not be suitable for everyone (as it deals with p-o-o-h.)

Jay started taking a true interest in potty training last week. I was thrilled since it was his idea and it seemed to come to him out of the blue. He's been doing really well but, as is normal, I've been living in a perpetual state of anxiety about when he might have an accident.

Andrew has been under the weather for over a week with a cough and runny nose. So, it's just been one of those weeks where I felt like I was bouncing back and forth from the bathroom to the tissue box to the fridge for more juice etc. Yesterday, Andrew started having diarrhea. Hoping this was just a result of something he had eaten I figured it would just run its course. And towards the end of yesterday I was feeling really confident in my prediction. Well, this morning he had two more bouts of it.

Here's where the defining moment occurs.

This morning, while I was researching causes for diarrhea online (and choking back my gag reflex at the detailed information concerning such a topic), Andrew appears by my side and says, "Mom, Jay has something in his hand and it smells like poop." I rush downstairs to see Jay holding a large amount of poop in his hand. I wish I hadn't said this but, I said, "Oh, Jay!" at which he turned and immediately dropped the turd to the carpet so as not to get in trouble for having it in the first place.

I think this is one of those times where you need to either laugh or cry. So, I laughed...much later...once I had cleaned the child, my hands, the carpet, the toys that were on the carpet and my hands again!

And to think earlier this week I was saying that I was tired of wiping runny noses. Oh, how I long for the days of runny noses!