Today Tamie went out with some of her old friends and I got to spend the day with Layla. Fun times indeed.
We went for lunch before heading to the local shopping center where a ska show broke out, the second time in two weeks. Seems like ska is growing here, at least in our neighbourhood. If I knew how to upload videos on here, I would. A busy day followed with a trip to the pet store to be afraid of dogs and cats, multiple trips up and down stairs and escalators, a frappuccino at the local starbucks and barely resisting the temptation to dive into the little pool with all the other kids. It’s a tough life being a kid!
Eventually we made our way up to the kids’ floor of the department store, where there’s an area for kids to play while their parents shop. Or nap. I’ve seen both. Layla likes to play there with the other kids so I don’t mind to take her there once in a while. I think she likes to go there, though, more for the toy department right next door. In either case, I don’t really mind it so long as she continues to not ask us to buy her anything.
This particular evening, Layla was looking at an arcade game while another kid stood beside her watching along. Everything seemed normal enough until, all of a sudden, the floodgates opened and the girl beside Layla was standing in a puddle of her own urine. I was in awe. It wasn’t just a trickle – it was a raging river of pee and Layla was fortunate not to get drowned, let alone splashed. It was all I could do not to burst out laughing at the scene.
I did what any sensible parent would do and called Layla over to me so she’d put her shoes on and, more importantly, not step in anything. While she was putting her shoes on, all the while telling me at the top of her lungs that the other girl peed on the floor, two other kids went to check out the arcade game. The urinator stood innocently by as Layla laughed. The smaller of the two new kids went for a spill… it was disgusting, and I bit my tongue. Layla wasn’t as sensitive to the situation, laughing away. I’m not sure if she knew exactly what was going on, but she sure seemed to.
At this point, the mom of the two new kids showed up and realized that the youngest kid was flailing around in someone else’s mess – I think he was doggy paddling but it was hard to see with the tears in my eyes. I wasn’t laughing, but I’m pretty sure my tongue was bleeding by this point. By the time Layla had her shoes on and was ready to go the poor mom had her kid up and out of the deep end of the pool, all the while trying not to touch him. During all this commotion, the urinator still stood by watching – her parents were nowhere to be seen.
Before we left to go home, I went to try to explain to the toy department lady exactly what happened. I really don’t know how to describe what happened in Japanese and the closest I could come up with was there was water on the floor… I hope she was careful when cleaning up that water.
As we were leaving, Layla ran ahead a few steps, as usual. Reckless, as usual. Only this time, she slipped and fell hard. It was with great relief that I picked her up and she was dry (except for the big tears streaming down her face), the only damage being a bit lip and a bruised ego. I’m not sure why she slipped as she’s usually pretty sure footed, at least on flat ground. She cried so hard that I ended up buying her some ice cream in the hopes that the cold treat would keep her lip from swelling too much and keep her crying to a minimum. It worked, on both counts.
