A Father’s Day Fiasco

**Note: If you are someone who gets grossed out easily, you may not want to read this one.**

This is one of those stories I had to put off for a day before telling.  It just took some time to marinate.

My dad loves cycling and has for as long as I can remember, so, a couple of months ago, he bought a trailer for Little Man so we could all go on rides together.  I am also a pretty big fan of recreational cycling, probably because I grew up with it.  Cycling is the one athletic activity that I have always felt “good” at and tend to view as more of a fun activity rather than a “workout”, so, when brainstorming fun things to do for Father’s Day, an outing with the new trailer and our bikes seemed like the perfect plan.

Sunday morning started out with Hubby and me running around looking for things, like bike helmets, that were buried deep in a closet since we last moved.  Little Man had a sleep over at Nana and Poppy’s house Saturday night so Hubby and I could go on a double date with friends, so we, thankfully, did not have to worry about getting him ready.  We shoved our bicycles in the car and were off to my parents by 11 AM.

After getting there, eating brunch, and socializing for a bit, we started preparing for the “test run”.  We all went out to prepare the bicycles and the car and took turns preventing little man from getting into too much trouble.  By around 1 PM we were all ready to go and, with the intent of a very short ride and subsequent short time out, we left behind most of our stuff, except for phones and wallets and headed for the bike trail.

Can you sense what’s coming?

We got to the trail, geared up and were off with little trouble (just a small bee sting under my knee).  My dad towed Little Man’s trailer and the rest of us based our pace off of him.  We planned on riding maybe three miles up the trail, getting some lunch and then turning around.  When we reached our destination, everyone felt great and wanted to keep going.  Yay for fresh air and a beautiful day!

We reached the state park located about three miles further down the trail and took a bathroom break.  Six miles on a bicycle is not a huge feat or anything, but we did still have to turn around and make it the six miles back to the car.  The trail we were on runs parallel with a major river and this park had a boat access area, so we decided to show Little Man the water and get our feet wet while we were stopped.  Guess what Little Man did?  He sat down in the water in his cloths and diaper.  Guess what we did not bring with us on this short trip?  That’s right: a diaper.  Then, as if things were not bad enough, upon further inspection, we discovered that he also had a smelly gift waiting for us in his diaper.   So I did the only thing I could think of at the time.  I took off his diaper and cleaned him up in the bathroom.  I then put his outfit back on, put him back in the bike trailer, and we were off.

At this point you would think we would have gone straight back to the car, but no.  We were all starving, so we stopped at a hamburger stand on the way back to the car to get some food and drinks.  Little man’s outfit got darker and darker from the waist down, because guess what he did not stop doing just because he did not have a diaper on?  My father and Hubby decided to ride to the car, go pick up some diapers, and come pick us up at that point.  Why we all did not all hop on our bikes and head for the car then is really beyond me.  I mean, I take full blame.  I just have no idea why I thought it would be a good idea for us to wait there (where there where people to gawk and no activities to keep Little Man entertained).

While we waited for the men to return and rescue us, Dylan continued to pee through his outfit.  In a last stitch effort to keep things semi sanitary, I took him to the bathroom, took off his outfit, washed it in the sink, wrung it out, and put it back on him.  Then, in an effort to spare other people from our disaster and preserve some semblance of grace, Mom and I decided to wait on the other side of the road where there was an empty parking lot and a bench.  Within about ten minutes dad and Hubby were back, diapers in hand.  Is that where the story ends?  Well, sort of.  As I took off Little Man’s outfit, to put his diaper on, we realized he had pooped, it had fallen onto the ground, and he had stepped in it.  A beautiful finale to an awesome day!

Was this the kind of day that made me feel like a total amateur as a mother?  Yup!  But, when all was said and done, we really had a good time.  We laughed instead of cried whenever possible and we survived!

Unfortunately, I feel like it fell somewhat short of what my dad and Hubby deserve.  They are amazing men and fathers who I love and admire so much and I wish their day had gone just a little bit smoother, but oh well.  You win some and you lose some!

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