What's a Mother to Do?

So, I had to stop by the office today. La Nina had her first spontaneous playdate (bloggable in its own right) and I just had Maggie with me. I went into the lobby to sign some forms and ended up chatting a bit.

Before I left I asked Maggie about potty, she said No, so I bid my friend farewell and headed to the car. Now I have to say, Maggie looked exceptionally cute today. She had on her pink skirted leotard for her sister's gymnastics class and she was sporting two anemic pony tails that each carried oversized big fluffy bows. On the five minute walk back to the car, she was skipping along and even the elder statesman I work with were smiling at the sight of her. As I bent to pick her up, she said the words ever mom dreads, "Pee-pee, Mommy."

The options flashed before my eyes...It's a good 5 minute walk to the nearest bathroom and she required a badge to get access to the building. Not good. Load her into the car, drive across the street to Target, park the car and run into the store...not even possible. Find the nearest tree and let it rip...not here, I'm at work.

Her words made the choice easy, "Pee-pee, Mommy, now!" Of course, the leotard was a huge complication, but I was on the side of the car that sheltered her...so I stripped my daughter in the parking lot of a major, multinational company to let her pee behind a tree. How low is that? It gets worse. She missed. She peed all over her leotard, her leg and my shoe. Lovely. Even worse, while in this delicate position, a group of wizened executives strolled past to leave for lunch and of course, one looked over at me, mid-diaster.

So there I stood, my daughter, naked and peeing on my foot in the middle of a corporate parking lot, faced with some random executive. In the way of explanation, I offer, "It's an emergency."

He sort of laughed and said, "I hope that works out for you." Considering I had a change of clothes in the car, I suppose it did.