A Moment Never Mentioned in Potty Training Manuals (aka the Run)

As the mother pushed her daughters in the cart, she marveled at how well they were behaving. 'Gee, grocery shopping used to be a difficult task with the two of them, but it's definitely improving,' she thought as she strolled through the frozen food section toward the cashier. Every now and then she would stop, check a price on this item or that, then continue pushing her cart at a leisurely pace further down the aisle.

The cart was full of a week's worth of food: milk, eggs, fruits and vegetables, nutrious things that would fuel her families activities for the next seven days. The lines were long with lunch time shoppers as she approached the check out stand, but she didn't mind. There were tabloid covers to read as she waited and a few cooking magazines she could thumb through. Her trip had been so peaceful, what was an extra five minutes?

Her two year old looked back at her and smiled. The mother smiled back, what a delight this child was today. Then the words came, "Mommy, pee-pee potty." The mother froze. Her baby was in panties, day four of potty training, and they were no where near the bathroom. Yes, the little one had gone before they left the house, but that was 45 minutes ago and she had lots of juice that morning. The Mom glanced around. She was still 5 minutes away from check out. "Moma--PEEPEE," her daughter cried more urgently.

The mother spun her cart around and ordered the businessman behind her in line with a sandwich and a coke to "Move it". She took off at a dead run, weaving her way through the crowded aisles. She passed through the frozen food and produce section before she took a sharp left turn at the dairy aisle. She skidded to a halt in front of the pharmacy. She tore the two year old from the cart and sprinted for the stairs that led to her daughter's salvation, when from behind her she heard..."Momma, wait for me."

'Shit, I mean, shout, I forgot the other one,' she muttered under her breath. She ran back to the cart. She freed her 4 year old from a tangle of tattered childproof harnesses. The threesome now quickly made their way up the staircase, the mother shouting the whole way, "Hold it, Maggie. Hold it." Her four year old joined the chorus, "Maggie, we're almost there. You can make it."

At the top of the stairs, startled employees enjoying their lunch in the break room rose from their common table to witness the spectacle sprinting past them. The mother threw open the bathroom door, ran to a stall, ripped off her daughter's dry Hello Kitty panties and set her daughter down on the commode. Her daughter, rather enjoying the reaction from her mother, put her finger to her lips and urged her mother to listen with a "Shhhhhh," as the tinkling sound of her release hit the welcoming waters below. They had made it and the mother breathed a sigh of relief.