My day was planned and I was on track to get it done. But what's that saying "the best layed plans whatever whatever???" The plan for today were these: get kids up and ready for school, swim practice, shower (not always a given), eat breakfast, straighten up house, get Maria up and ready, take Patrick to enrichment class, watch my friends boys for a bit, get diaper bag ready, pack snacks, get Gabriel off of the bus, load our car to pick up Patrick from class and head out into the City, pick up Dad at Union Square and off to the California Academy of Sciences.

I was on track, had it all together shoes were on, jackets at the door. I wait for the bus door to open and the nicest driver looks at me and says "Gabriel had an accident". OK no problem, a quick change and we're still on track. The minute I stepped on the bus, the smell hit me and I thought well, his pants aren't wet so maybe it's all contained in the pull up. I sent him straight to the bathroom and made sure nothing was up his back and it wasn't. All a good sign, although the smell was beyond normal. So he lays down on the floor and I grabbed his foot and realized that poop had gotten all down one leg and on his sock and his shoe. OK, so no time for a bath, he has other pants and he'll have to wear his sandals that we just took out of shoe storage. It's about 12:20, Patrick gets out at 12:15 he'll have to wait a bit longer. So, I begin cleaning everything up. I can't just leave his clothes smeared like that, and I ask Samuel to please help Gabriel pick out other clothes which Gabriel had already begun to put on shiny soccer shorts. By then it's 12:40 and Patrick is still waiting so I wash my hands really well, grab Maria and tell Samuel that I'll be back I have to go get Patrick. Samuel in the meantime is helping his brother and says "mom my room smells". No time to check it out so I leave. Patrick's rightfully annoyed, he waited 30 minutes. I of course said to him that he could've started walking home but I was sorry and told him what had happened. Thankfully Patrick's pretty observant and knew that I had had it so he let it go.

That smell that Samuel told me about was bm #2, not a huge mess and contained but still extremely smelly. By then Steve had called to find out where I was going to pick him up and he can tell by my voice that I was frustrated and disgusted. So, we decide to call the trip into the City off in case Gabriel's fighting off a virus and his stomach continues to be unsettled. Shortly after that bm #3 happened so I guess everything happens for a reason.

OK, so I have to ask myself what is it that has me the most annoyed, is it the fact that I love going into the City and we never do? The fact that Steve actually initiated going into the City and doing something other than trips to Target or Big Lots! ? Is it the fact that we've had this membership to CHAOS since Christmas and we've yet to use it? OR is it that I have a 7 year old son who refuses to use the toilet to pee and poop?

Frankly it's a combination of all those things. I have been wanting to go to CHAOS forever and then I thought it would be fun to call our friends who live in the City to see if we could meet for dinner somewhere. So, yeah I'm bummed. I love going into the City. The entire potty training thing is so frustrating, really it truly is. Gabriel is not stupid, he knows what he is and what he is not doing. He is purposely NOT using the toilet. He knows we change in the bathroom, he will hand me the pull up and he'll sit on the potty and in the shower he will pee into the drain just like his dad taught him. So why does he refuse to use the toilet????? I just don't get it. I was so excited about our day today, I was ignoring my headache because I knew that we were going to have a good time. That one incident has really taken all the wind out of my sails and brought me down. I know that I'm not the only mom dealing with this and that's helpful but when the poop happens so badly, it's so hard to not want to scream my head off and then go cry into my pillow or go get a quart of ice cream and eat it all at one time or pour myself a shot (or 2) of tequila at 12:30 in the afternoon. I mean the child has no remorse, could care less how this makes me feel and is not willing to try at all. Did I forget to mention that he's 7? Having Down syndrome is no excuse, yet I think it's become his.

I guess it's time to clean up from my pity party and think about dinner. One more week of summer school and the potty training nazi will have to show herself. When will I get into the City? I don't know, hopefully soon our membership will expire on New Years Eve.