Just Another Day at the Park

After months of being stuck indoors, stuffed under layers of clothing, I jumped at the first glimpse of warm weather to take the girls to the park. Safiyah was more than excited when I mentioned the idea to her.
"The park - the park" she exclaimed. "I'm goin' to da park!"
She had already started her happy dance.

So, I packed up everything I could ever conceive of needing. I have learned the hard way that nothing is worse than being ready for a great day out, when it's ruined by something simple like forgetting the formula, or the wipes and being forced back home. I made a mental checklist of everything we would need.

Double stroller. Check.
Diaper bag. Check.
Water, snacks, neosporin spray. Check, check and check.

I even crazily packed a magazine, like I'd have time to casually peruse the pages while the girls peacefully played in the grass. Ok, so I'd started to over idealize the day. Needless to say, I felt prepared, which should have been my first warning.

When we arrived at the park, I was initially struck by how packed it was! Apparently I wasn't the only one who had been waiting for the first day of sunshine to bring her kids out - go figure. I pushed the stroller over to a nice spot to unpack, as Safiyah anxiously struggled to break free of the stroller. Safi immediately spotted a friend from daycare and I watched her run and embrace the girl as if they were reuniting after years of forced separation. I strapped Layla in the Baby Bjorn and watched Safiyah happily skip away with her friend toward the swings.

But no sooner than I started to feel like I may have actually gotten this motherhood thing down, I heard the most dreaded five words at a playground.

"Mommy, I hafta peeeeeeeee."

I have waited so long for the day that Safiyah would be potty trained; and I must admit that once she was ready, it happened rather quickly. But in the middle of the park of seemingly twenty thousand children and no indoor plumming, I suddenly wished that Safiyah was wearing a Pull Up instead of panties.

"Are you sure?" I asked, sounding a little too hopeful that this was a false alarm.
But Safiyah instantly started the jumping-up-and-down-holding-herself routine and that was my cue that we better make a bee line for the port-a-potties.

I packed up my nicely assembled stroller/day-at-the-park survival cart and escorted Safiyah to the potties. But as we opened the door, I saw Safiyah's eyes widen as a look of sheer horror crossed her face.

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!" she began to scream, as if I had secretly brought her there to kill her.
"I caaaan't go on that potty!!!!"

"I know, I know. It's gross" I said, trying to ease the hysteria.
"Don't worry, Safi, I'll hold you over the potty - you don't have to sit down on this potty."

But she was not convinced.
"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!" She wailed again!

I started to pick her up to show her how quickly we could get ithis over with, but in an instant, she stiffened her body like a board and refused to make any movement that remotely resembled a squatting position. It didn't take long to realize this was going nowhere fast.

Defeated, and still full of pee, we exited the death chamber. I watched another woman tackle the same resistence with her son who ran in the opposite direction as soon as the port-a-potty door opened. Call me naive, but I never realized how scary port-a-potties could be to children.

We returned to our park bench and I explained to Safiyah that since she couldn't go to the potty, I had to put a Pull Up on her. (Yes, I had packed those too). She refused.
"Mommy, I don't wear Pull Ups, I-wear-PANTIES!"

I opted out of battle of wills game with a toddler. Plus, I started to realize how strange I may look trying to convince a nearly three-year old to regress to Pull Ups. So, I let it go. And apparently so did Safiyah, who happily resumed play as if she'd never had to use the bathroom at all.

But about a half hour later, Safiyah returned in a panic.
"Mommy, I REALLY hafta peeeeeee."

"Safi, there's only that one bathroom you already went to."
"Do you think you can use it there?"

"NO" she quickly responded.

And then I saw a look in her eye as if a lightbulb had literally just been pulled on in her head.

"Mommy, I can just pee outside!!"
She seemed so pleased to have solved the riddle that had baffled us both. As I processed the idea in my head, she smiled, apparently quite proud her own resourcefulness.

My first instinct was, NO WAY!
And then I weighed my options.

Wet, pee-soaked child - leave the park.
A little pee on the ground - stay and play.

Let's just say, it was a good thing I brought the wipes!

and then there were two

Where has the time gone? I feel like this is how I start every journal entry. I always feel like sooooo much time has passed since I've written last because usually - it has. So, I feel this huge need to fill in all the gaps and spill out all the various changes that have taken place in the days, weeks, months since my last entry.

Well, I'll just keep it simple here because there is literally no way I could catch up. Sufficie it to say, I've birthed another human being since my last entry!! A yummy little girl named LAYLA! Layla is a little over 7 months now (again reiterating how over due this post is). She is absolutely delightful, full of laughter, army crawling, and most of all, trying to keep up with her big sister Safiyah.

Al my worries that my "center-of-the-world" Safiyah would have a hard time adjusting to a world of being "one of two" were completely unnecessary. Safiyah LOVES being a big sister and ADORES her little Layla even more. I have to say that it is the most endearing thing to watch the bond being born between sisters.

As one of four girls myself, I couldn't imagine my world without sisters. Sisters are your built-in best friends, yet at other times your enemies. They are your anchors and in my case, my memory. I have very few childhood memories that are not shared by my sisters. And when I forget the who, what, when or why of a story, my sisters are there to fill in the details that I too often forget. My sisters are the fabric of my childhood and the framework of my life as an adult. I still don't feel like something has truly "happened" until I've shared it with my sisters.

I'm so excited for Safiyah and Layla to discover the beauty that is sisterhood. It is the best gift they'll ever give each other.