Play dates should be a fun and stress-free time for Moms. (Oh, and the kids should have a good time too). On Friday afternoon, we had the pleasure of hosting my ppd pal Patricia and her lovely kiddos: Maxime (3 ½) and Olivia (1). Patricia and I always have great conversation – swapping post partum depression war stories and tales of therapy – tips and pearls of wisdom that we’ve gained from our respective therapists. We enjoy sitting with our Diet Pepsi’s (one form of the caffeine addiction of the stay-at-home Mom of 2007), watching the babies play (keeping Zachary from pulling Olivia’s full mane of brown hair), and checking in on the bigger boys (usually playing pretend dragons or pirates or playing with Matthew’s multitude of trucks). Play dates should be a fun and stress-free time.

Patricia and clan had only been at our house for about 40 minutes when I announced, “Hmmm, the boys are a little too quiet, I better go check on them.” I went into Matthew’s room and walked into a wall of stink. Maxime was no where to be seen, and Matthew was just standing in the middle of his room, staring at me like a befuddled deer in headlights. “Wha…?” I started. Matthew cut me off, pointing to an unfortunately familiar-looking brown object on the floor, “Maxime went poo-poo on the floor!” he declared. “Uh….Where is Maxime, Matthew?” “He’s hiding in the closet.” Okay, then. I walked back out into the living room. “Patricia-dear. I’m sad to tell you that your day just got a lot worse.”

Turns out that wee Maxime – who has been fully potty-trained for quite some time, has decided that this new poop-dropping technique will be a special method for attention-getting. Poor Patricia has no idea what to do about it, except clean up the aftermath. So, unfortunately the rest of our play date was cut short while she and Maxime spent their time scrubbing down Matthew’s room and toys. (The place has never been so clean, I might add).

Later, when I was filling in Mike on the Ca-Ca Crime, he asked, “Was Matthew reprimanded?” He made the point that while Maxime was obviously the one that made the REALLY bad choice, Matthew was an accomplice. He knows full well that poo-poo belongs in the potty and not on the poo-brown carpet. A very good point, indeed. Patricia feels strongly that Matthew was merely an innocent bystander – a victim of the heinous crime.