And Then, We Were Thieves!

So Friday morning is typically an outing day for the girls and me. I like to take them to do something special on Fridays, like going to the zoo or the park. Something fun, a mommy/daughters special day. So this past Friday I decided to take them to the Tucson Children's Museum. I had been hearing about it from my other girlfriends and decided to check it out.
It was great. Very interactive for the girls with lots of things to see and do. Right up until Toria decided to pee on the floor. That would be my potty-trained toddler, who decided to stand in the middle of the Enchanted Rainforest and piddle, right on the floor, as she is telling me that she is peeing on the floor. WHAT??? Not, mama, I need to go potty, as usual, but mama, look, I'm peeing on the floor. WHAT??? IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE FUNNY?? WHAT??? ARE??? YOU??? DOING????!!!
Well, we had a wet, not so fun walk to the bathroom, which seemed like a mile and a half away with a sloshy child and wet shoes. After lots of toilet paper for the drying effect (of course we didn't have a change of clothes with us. SHE'S POTTY TRAINED!! evidently only most of the time), and regaining composure, we returned to the museum play area to try again. We enjoyed the music room where the girls got to bang of the different types of drums and shake the handbells. The girls had a blast in this room and went from instrument to instrument, shaking and banging on everything they could get their hands on.
We ventured from there to the 6th Avenue Market area, where the kids get to push around a pint-sized shopping cart and fill it with groceries to take for check-out. They get to weigh out produce and ring them up at a cash register. I thought this would be so much fun for the girls, so I found a place to "park" the stroller, grabbed Juju out of it, and turned around to grab Toria's hand for the shopping experience. Except that Toria wasn't there. Or anywhere. Quick scan of the room. No Toria. Enter frantic mom. Walk quickly. Stay calm. Don't freak out. She has to be here somewhere. Close. Her legs are small. She couldn't have gone that far. Scanning, scanning, looking. No Toria. Walk becomes brisk, from room to room, bordering run. Franticly scanning. No Toria. Panic. Check the dinosaurs. No Toria. Check the music room. She had fun in there. No Toria. Panic, fright. By now I am running to the front desk to report my child as missing, and who do I see sitting on the computer by the front door. Toria. Hug her or beat her? Hug her or beat her? Tough decision. Hug her, then beat her.
It was in that moment that my shoe broke. The bottom of my sandal came unglued, to match my attitude at the moment. So every step that I took, the shoe doubled under itself, making walking with the shoe quite a joke.
It was in that moment, that I opened the front door of the museum and escorted everyone out. Fun Friday over. Going home. I removed the shoe, walked with one shoe on, baby in stroller, toddler holding on to stroller, tightly, quickly to the van. Fun Friday done.
After I got everyone loaded into the van and was about halfway home, I reached into my purse to grab something, only to notice that "someone" had slipped one of the handbells from the music room into said purse. Little one liked the handbells so much, she decided we needed to have one for our own collection. Now we're thieves. Even better. Fun Friday Finished.
We'll be making another trip to the Tucson Children's Museum, not for another fun day. No, that won't be for a while now. We have to return said stolen property. Ah, the joys of parenting.
Grace and peace. Especially for Fun Fridays.