an adventure in petsmart

so i took ace to be groomed today. he went fishing with his dad this weekend, and supposedly "fell" into the water. whatever. i'm pretty sure he jumped. anyway, he needed to be washed professionally. i don't know that i could wash him at this point. it's hard on the old back.

i've been helping a friend of mine with her 17 month old son. they are moving saturday, and i have been helping keep him while she works. it's been fun..and good experience. he's a really, really good kid. at that stage where all he wants to do is follow you around. and hold your hand. so sweet.

so picture this: me, ace on a lease and jh all walking into petsmart. we get up to the door...i'm carrying jh...and ace starts sniffing around. not surprising because that's what he does. well, he gets right up to the door...and i guess the sliding door smells like other dogs...so what does ace do? he marks it. right there. lifts his leg and just pees right on it. there are people walking in and out...and i'm mortified!

i basically yank him inside the store. at this point, jh is getting really, really heavy. and as a result of him sliding down, my shirt is coming down. being pulled down. but i have no way of pulling it up. i just keep telling myself, "keep walking".

so we enter the door. ace is doing good. but as soon as he realizes that we have to step off the entryway mat...he's done. the floor is slick and shiny and slippery...and he's not having it. he just plants himself. and refuses to move. so it's at this point that i bend down...put jh down...grab his hand...pick ace up and carry him like a baby. my shirt is pretty much completely down at this point. pulled down. the vneck shirt is no longer vneck. basically, you can see my belly button. i mean, not really...but close.

ace gets nervous and pees on me. yes, just a little...but enough to count. enough for me to be wet. look wet and feel wet. we get back to the grooming station after many stares from people...one sweet woman actually helped me....and i finally feel like i'm good.

we're standing there, the woman is getting information from me. and all of a sudden, jh says, "poo poo?". like in a questioning tone. and i very quietly say, "um...no, not right here." which i know is pointless...because that means he's about to do just that...in his britches. i turn back to the woman and answer more of her questions....name, number, etc..and it's at that point that i hear jh grunting. holding onto the counter and grunting. his face is red. his eyes are watering.

the girls kind of giggles. and i do too. because what else is there to do? cry?

i lean over and say, "i guess you're poo-pooing, right?" and he stops...mid grunts, and goes, "yeah"...and then gets back to it.

this is only the beginning, i know. at least today, i could revel in the fact that this wasn't my child crapping his pants in the middle of petsmart. but i know that many months from now...it will be my child. i just can't wait :)