Dear Superstore: You Suck!

Yesterday, I did something not altogether smart. Which is a nice way to say that it was stupid. It was really, very stupid.

I took Gracie on our big grocery shopping day with no Pull-Ups on. Just underwear.

Now first, I should explain that every two weeks I do a big day of grocery shopping, and then try not to step foot in the place for the next 14 days. I find that I stick to my budget much better this way, and also, who wants to go grocery shopping every other day? So I start out at No Frills and buy 75% of the stuff on my list, then I go to the Superstore to get the stuff they don't have at No Frills. You should also know that it takes me hours and hours to shop because: 1) Gracie and I can't have dairy so I have to read every single label of every single thing that goes into my cart and 2) I have to bring a three year old with me.

It started out really well. No Frills is a small little grocery store, the kind that doesn't really have a public bathroom, just the employee bathroom that they will let you use if you are running down the aisles with a child yelling "I HAVE TO GO POTTTTTTYYYYYYYY!" at the top of her lungs. Which I did, no less then four times while shopping there yesterday afternoon. Seriously, you should have seen it. Big, fat, pregnant me, holding a 35-pound 3-year-old and pushing a full cart, running down the aisles as fast as I can while Gracie broadcast to the whole store that she really needed to pee RIGHT NOW! But she made it! And I was so proud of her! It was awesome! My daughter was finally potty trained! Woo Hoo!

And then we went to the Superstore.

Clearly, the person who designed the layout for the Superstore in Airdrie had no children. Or had never had to shop with small children. Or ever been around children. Ever.

The Superstore is, well, super-sized. It's huge. And the one and only bathroom is at the front of the store, and only accessible AFTER you have gone through the tills and paid for your groceries. I had never noticed this. To be honest with you, I've never needed to go to the bathroom there until after I was finished shopping, so how would I know? But there you go. The first time Gracie had to go, I was stopped by an employee who wanted to see the receipt for my groceries in my cart before we could go in. No receipt, no passage through the tills. I mean, I can see their point, but seriously - I had a squirming, wiggling 3-year-old doing the potty dance here. Do you really think I'm trying to skip out without paying?

The nice lady stood there and watched my cart and let Gracie and I go through. The next time Gracie had to go, we were at the very back of the store, as far from the bathrooms as a person could possibly be. Despite my best efforts, the kid couldn't hold it that long. And the very nice lady who had stood with our cart was long gone, and the next guy wasn't as nice. Gracie had to sit in her wet pants until we got done shopping.

So, today's lesson is: Never, ever take Gracie to the Superstore without a Pull-Up. And Mommy is stupid.
The End.