The nice list.

Over the last few months I’ve been treated exceptionally well at local businesses. I’d like to say thanks to them as an anonymous customer. During the week I have Little Brother on my hip while we run errands. Even though I only have the one boy during the day I had sworn off restaurants for a few months just for the sake of saving a sliver of sanity for my weekends. Little Brother could not be expected to sit still for the fifteen minutes it takes to place your order. Combined with the wait for the food we could never make it. He’ll throw everything on the floor, stand up in the highchair or booth and yell like a miniature Tarzan. Basically by the time our food was ready to be served I would be embarrassed and ask for a take out container. But a few weeks ago I got brave. Little Brother was taking a nap just as we finished our errands and my stomach was growling. I stopped in at the new Twin Leaf station in Fort. I had heard they had good soup and specials and decided to give it a try. The waitress was great, made sure I had a drink for Little Brother just in case he woke up and had my food to me before he woke up. Once Little Brother woke up he spent the next five minutes trying to run around while I inhaled the last of my sandwich. I had my bill on the table before I had Little Brother’s coat on to leave. Basically I was pretty impressed. The food was great, the service was perfect, and the other customers didn’t seem to get a headache from my toddler.

Another stop we frequently make is to Truck Stop 9. I get gas and take my kids in the store. Sometimes Little Brother runs around knocking things over and running behind the counter to bother the cashier but don’t give me any mean glares for it. Big Brother has begun to shop by himself. I’ll wait in the car while he goes in for his snack or juice and he is always treated like a big person customer which he absolutely loves. Twin Leaf also has great patience for my little shopper.

Not too long ago I had a few dental appointments and as much I didn’t want to, I had to take Little Brother with me. It was too last minute for me to ask anyone. I figured I survived getting a filling for an hour while hanging on to a toddler during the entire procedure so when it came time for a cleaning I just figured it would be the normal amount of shenanigans on his part. I saw the questioning look on the dental hygienists face as I carried Little Brother into the room with me. I was told Little Brother could have a seat in the chair next to me and watch. I had a few cars for him to play with, so I sat him in the chair and hoped for the best. I didn’t want to ask for the door to be shut just in case that made Little Brother fuss over being locked in. Also, I didn’t want to seem like the control freak mom bossing around the worker. For the first twenty minutes everything went great. I had my eyes glued to Little Brother in case he tried to bolt out of the room or touch any of the dental tools. Then Little Brother got uncomfortable and wanted to get down, my first instinct was that he was running away. I sat up to help him off the chair and that is when I smelled and saw it. He had just pooped through his clothes, into the top of his socks, and on the chair. Oh my god! I tell the hygienist, I’ll be right back as I hold Little Brother at arm’s length away from my body and quickly bolt for the closest bathroom to get him cleaned up. Here I had almost left Little Brother’s diaper bag in the car figuring it would only be about a half hour deal. Man was I happy I didn’t as I gave him a minibath in the sink. Thank god for those travel size baby shampoo bottles because it was a poop emergency! I also was lucky to have new clothes, socks and shoes in that bag. I threw the onesie in the garbage since there was no saving it and plastic bagged the other clothes. I think I may have taken about 7 minutes to get back into the dentist chair. Little Brother played cars and looked out the window for the remaining time. The dentist is new to St. Regis but was Big Brother’s dentist in Cornwall. Navaneelan is the name and she opened a new branch in St. Regis. I would like to thank her staff for being kid friendly and being nice to my little monster that day and the one before. Also thank you for saving us Mohawk moms from the wait to cross through customs and running the possibility of being late for appointments. That is a big load off when your baby is screaming in his car seat while the older one begs to just pee off the bridge.