Frantic Friday!

Wow. What a day! School was exciting today as we did the "golden penny" lab. We turned pennies into a golden color (actually making brass) and the students really liked it. It also was very relevant to the curriculum which is always good. Since my schedule is changing on Monday, I told my students that today was the last day that I would be their teacher. They were really upset. I could see it on their faces. I have to say, it surprised me a little. I didn't expect them to be jumping for joy or anything, but I just didn't expect their heartfelt disappointment that I wouldn't be there to help them along anymore. Hopefully I'll still get to see them. I picked up Claire from school and we took a run to Wal-Mart to get a few things. We got there and I realized she hadn't gone potty yet, so we went directly to the restrooms. She did great! We then got a cart and picked up the stuff we had gone there for and of course, a few extras that we didn't! It hadn't been but 30 minutes, so we left. I was looking for a new purse, but didn't really like any of the ones that Wal-Mart had. I remembered I have a JCPenney gift card so I rushed over there to see what they had. We got to Penney's and I go to get Claire out of the car and I realize she's had an accident in her seat. "It's okay" I said, "Just tell me if you need to go!" "Okay, Mommy" So I change her right there and we walk in. As we were walking in, I said, "Claire, Do you need to go potty?" "No, Ma'am," she replied. I thought to myself, "What a dumb question? She just went! Of course she doesn't need to go again!" Plus, every other time that she has had an accident, I take her to the potty, and nothing happens. We went straight to the purses, spent probably 5 minutes picking one out that was on sale, and we start to head for the cashier when her pants start getting darker in the middle of both legs and the darkness is spreading. She had accident #2! I felt bad for not taking her and I know she felt bad for having another "askdent" as she says. I had no clothes with me at this point, so I just went to the cashier to pay and then leave especially since there was no line. So I'm stand at the counter and the cashier is with her friend looking at clothes very close to the register. She says she'll be right with me and I say fine. She comes to the register 3 different times to check prices on clothes for her friend. Meanwhile, Claire notices the gift card display and knocks one of them down that had 3 gift cards in it. I tell her to pick it up. She begins to (very obediently! =) ) and the cashier leaves the register for the 3rd time to go over to the display to pick them up for Claire. I ask the cashier politely not to, and say, "Please don't pick them up. We're trying to teach her!" She responds to me, "I'm not telling her it's okay to drop them but I can pick them up for her!" with a snotty tone in her voice. I was really shocked! I said, "Can I just pay please?" and then pay, and leave. I'm really not in a good mood at this point. I am upset at the cashier, I am frustrated with Claire for her accidents, and I am frustrated with myself for not packing more clothes/taking her more often, etc. We get out to the car and have no more pants/pull-ups/panties for Claire. Remember too, her car seat is wet from her first accident. I take the plastic Penney's bag and cover the seat for a lining from the wetness. Then I put a shirt down so she doesn't have to sit bare-bottomed on plastic. Then she sits down and I proceed to put a sweatshirt over her to protect her from any onlookers, or the seatbelt going over her legs. She is still upset about having her accident and "making Mommy upset." I try to calm her down and tell her that it's ok, but that if she can't start telling me when she needs to go potty or when she has gone potty in her pants, that we'll have to go back to pull-ups. I reassure her that she's learning and that she'll get there and that it's ok. Her having an accident didn't make me upset was all I could get across. As soon as I get in the car to leave, she pulls the sweatshirt out from under the seatbelt leaving her exposed from the waist down. Now I'm really, REALLY frustrated! I redo my little setup. I just want to go home at this point. I call Justin to see if he wants some dinner. Claire is still upset in the backseat. I am still extremely frustrated, but don't want to make Claire feel even worse. Justin, poor Justin, must have been busy at work, because he sounded frustrated too. I just couldn't take any more so I just sat in silence....that made him upset that I called him and wasn't talking. And it honestly wasn't that I didn't want to talk, but that I knew nothing would come out the way I wanted it to. It would either have been sarcastic, mean, yelling, or crying. All of which would just make things worse. So, I'm sorry, that I called and didn't talk. I hope you understand now. After a while in silence, he said, "Well, if you're not going to talk, I'll let you go. Bye." So I started to go home. We ended up getting dinner and taking some to him at work on our way home. I apologized when I saw him, but I still just couldn't verbalize all of this at that point. Claire had calmed down by that point and hopefully, he was able to go back in and enjoy his dinner. Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to a peaceful weekend if ever there was a need for one, it's now. However, I'm still very mindful that even though this has been a complaining post, it's not even a drop in the bucket for others. Thank you Lord, for all the blessings that sometimes we cause to be a burden for ourselves. Thank you Lord, for not withholding those blessings because we may cause it to be a burden in the future.