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Bad Parenting Moments: An Inconvenient Poop

Saturday, March 24, 2012

An Inconvenient Poop

"In the Parenthood Justice System, the people are represented by only one all powerful unit. The parent who investigates crimes and the same parent who prosecutes the offenders. These are their stories."

It was March of 2008. I was a new mom for the 2nd time. My son was 2 weeks old and my darling first born was just over 2. The transition for her had been rough. The transition for me had been rough. Lots of tears. Lots of jealousy. Lots of mistakes. Lots of "learning moments". Our daughter, OLD baby, was taking a nap. I was hanging out with NEW baby in the living room, nursing, making lovey dovey googly eyes at him. You know, the usual. I then heard my daughter call for me. A very (suspiciously) sweet and light, "Maaaahhhh-mmaaahhhh". I pick up new baby and head over to the door. As I began to open the door, I was hit with the unmistakable smell of nap poop. Now, parents know what nap poop is. It is, hours old, burn the hair out of your nostrils, stagnant closed door poop. It is vile. I brace myself by taking a deep breath so I can run in, grab O.B. (old baby) and get out of the toxic fumes. Sadly, it was not just low level breathable toxins that awaited me. It was so. much. worse.

The next few minutes are a blur. I'm fairly certain I went into a sort of trauma coma. I do not know how much time passed before I recovered, but, when I did, this is what I saw.

1) Completely naked 2 year old covered in crap from head to toe
2) Crap wall "mural" behind crib (looking back, masterful artistry)
3) Crib bars, rail, mattress, sheets, blankets and stuffed friends (with friends like my 2 year old, who needs enemies) covered in crap.
4) Crap filled diaper (how much crap was in there?!?!?!??) upside down on CARPETED floor.

I managed to muster some sort of quasi sentence out. "Annabelle..what...what...happening? What?!?"

Her reply, "Mommy, I eat it? Why I do that?"

The sound that came out of me at that moment can only be described as the deep, primal, guttural bellowing that people generally reserve for grieving death. (To be fair, part of me died at that moment). I sank to the floor, still holding my newborn, and started to sob while screaming, "NO...NO...ANNABELLE! NO. NO. You did NOT eat it! YOU DID NOT EAT IT."

Annabelle begins sobbing and shrieks, "WHY I DO THAT?"

At that point, Mother Bethany bitch slapped Falling Apart Bethany on the floor. "GET YOURSELF TOGETHER! Welcome to motherhood!" In a daze, I picked myself up and began to formalize a plan of action.

Step 1 - Put. Baby. Somewhere. I set up new (and now favorite) baby in his bassinet. Ok, I can do this. One step down.

Step 2. - Find gloves. No gloves to be found. Ok, I'll improvise. Wrap hands in saran wrap. Check.

Step 3. - Retrieve toddler (from Hell) from her room. If we can even still call it a room. I remembered thinking, "We may have to move."

Step 4. - Shower toddler with bleach? No, that can't be right. Ok, no bleach.

This went on for HOURS. I meticulously corrected every foul, ungodly thing my daughter had done. At the end, not even CSI (The S, clearly standing for something else) could have detected the horrific event had even occurred.

I don't like to talk about it much. It is one of those parenting stories that will live on as family folklore. Maybe one day, a few generations from now, they'll forget all about it. Sadly, I never will. It is burned into my brain and corneas. In the history books of my time as a parent, this will be my Vietnam.

After this happened, I was not (and still am not) afraid of ANYthing. I know I can do it. And, if for a second I doubt my strength, I can count on Mother Bethany to give me a good bitch slap back to reality.

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16 Comments:

At March 24, 2012 at 8:54 PM , Blogger Dawn Grobe said...

I live in fear of this day.

 
At March 24, 2012 at 9:10 PM , Blogger Belinda said...

I remember hearing this story for the first time and I shutter and wretch just as much now as I did that day... I may not have "been there" but that's the closest to 'Nam, I ever want to get! Go with God Mother Bethany!

 
At March 24, 2012 at 9:46 PM , Blogger BadParentingMoments said...

If it ever happens, call me. There may be a few minutes of P.T.S.D., but, after that I could be quite useful.

 
At March 24, 2012 at 9:49 PM , Blogger BadParentingMoments said...

Sorry to bring you back to an "unsafe place". I had to put it on the record, all official like, for the sake of all those who came before me and who have yet to experience this tragedy.

 
At March 25, 2012 at 2:38 PM , Blogger maura29 said...

I remember when that happened. I was told of it later that evening whilst the faint odor despair and poo wafted through Valencia from a southerly direction.

 
At March 25, 2012 at 5:42 PM , Blogger BadParentingMoments said...

Now that I have written this down, I'm ecstatic thinking about all the future blackmail opportunities. Annabelle, don't make me pull out THE story for your date. What's that? You'll do anything I say? Excellent.

 
At March 28, 2012 at 10:56 AM , Blogger Debs said...

oh we had this, a few times, for the same reason - baby 1 jealous of baby 2. I try not to remember those dark days and hope they're really over for good (baby 2 is 3 months now, so still early days really)

 
At March 28, 2012 at 11:04 AM , Blogger BadParentingMoments said...

This happened to you more than once? Dear Lord, woman...you just may be my hero. You definitely deserve some kind of medal for valor. Keep on, warrior! Mine are now 6, 4, 2 and 12 weeks. I live in fear of this day repeating with my current 2 year old.

 
At March 28, 2012 at 2:34 PM , Blogger Nicole Leigh Shaw said...

Oh craptastrophes are the worst. I feel you. And I really am not trying to one-up you here, just commiserating . . .

My twins once painted a poo mural inside their (yes, carpeted) closet, WITH EACH OTHERS POOP. I don't think they ate it, but I've blocked out so much of that incident. Who knows?

Came by through #findingthefunny. Great post.

Cheers!

Ninja Mom

 
At March 28, 2012 at 2:44 PM , Blogger BadParentingMoments said...

Craptastrophes! Ha! Twin crap mural? UGH. I almost lost my sh*t (pun intended) with just one. And, you still love them? Miracle.

Thanks for reading, Ninja Mom. You are one of my absolute faves, so, I'm pretty much feeling like a celebrity right now.

 
At March 28, 2012 at 11:07 PM , Blogger Kim Bongiorno at Let Me Start By Saying said...

Fecal Artistry is never, ever good in the moment, but it makes for fablicious blog posts.

 
At March 31, 2012 at 10:51 AM , Blogger BadParentingMoments said...

Thank you! After 4 years of therapy, I was ready to put it all BEHIND me.

 
At April 2, 2012 at 9:09 AM , Blogger ~The Bargain Babe from *Zucchini Summer Blog* said...

laughed out loud really hard. "Bleach, no that can't be right."

 
At April 2, 2012 at 2:28 PM , Blogger BadParentingMoments said...

Laughter is, by far, the best compliment. Thanks for reading and stopping by!

 
At April 5, 2012 at 10:40 AM , Blogger Unknown said...

Oh, no!! That is awesome. Well, not for you...but, well, yes for you. The memories, right? The funny blog post, too! Thanks so much for linking this up with us over at #findingthefunny last week!

 
At April 5, 2012 at 7:53 PM , Blogger BadParentingMoments said...

Thank you for stopping by and reading! It IS awesome...now. It only took me 4 years to get over it. Misty water colored memories... ;)

 

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