I want to poop….

May 18^th, 2014. It was my cousin’s wedding at Guruvayur. I had been excited about it from quite a while. All the cousins’ reunion, getting to see all the aunties and uncles. Just love it. But it was the first time that I was attending a cousin’s marriage as a toddler’s mother. With my Sid. That too, without my husband. Sigh. For all those who had been in Kerala during summer can imagine how hot it was. To top it, I wore a silk kasavu (zari) saree and some jewelry.

So, the marriage got over in Guruvayoor. I got one small glance of the bride in that crowd. We headed to Thrissur town for lunch and reception. My younger cousins took care of Sid for some time. (By the way, taking care means running behind him.) Then came the lunch. I finished my sadya (a Kerala lunch) in exactly 5 minutes. That’s way too fast for me. I caught my all-sweaty Sid, placed him on my lap before the lunch table, and tried to feed him. The first time, he refused. As usual. The second time, I scolded him and force-fed him, and he threw up. Yes. He vomited. There goes my silk saree. I rushed to the wash area, cleaned him. I then rushed to the wash room to change my dress to a simple and oh-so-comfortable kurta. We left the wedding hall and headed towards the Thrissur bus stand. There was no point trying to feed him again. So I bought an Amul milk shake since he was dehydrated and I knew he would be hungry soon.

We boarded a KSRTC bus to Calicut. And he drank the drink all yummily. Here starts the incident.

After an hour or so through the journey, Sid said, “Amma, I want to poop.”

I tried to postpone, “Is it ok if we reach home and poop? We will reach sooner.”

He usually says ok for such a request if it is really a bad situation. However, this time he was insisting, “No amma, I really want to poop.”

I said, “It’s ok. You can poop. I have worn you a diaper, so you can poop. We can clean it later.”

He said, “No. I want to poop.” (As in, in a conventional manner). Gradually, he became louder and started crying, “I want to poop. I want to poop.”

Before I could go to the driver asking him to stop, the people in the bus noticed us and as they all know Malayalam, they went to the driver and asked to stop the bus. The driver pulled over right away. I, holding him, hopped outside the bus (thank God it was a deserted place), undressed his diaper and trouser, and held him so that he can poop. Aahhh, such a relaxing expression he had. My mom helped me wash him as two boys from the bus supplied us some bottled water that they had carried in the bus. We all boarded the bus again and resumed the journey. Sid drifted off to sleep. Peacefully. However, what didn’t drift off was the co-passengers’ giggles and comments. Especially those two boys. The next time the bus stopped, they were asking who wants to poop next. I sat there silently with an embarrassing yet a motherly smile on my face. Did I over potty-train my baby? He was just not comfortable with the diaper. Therefore, I curse those boys (a sweet curse since they actually helped me with some water), “Their kids will also want to potty in a bus journey. And that the kid doesn’t tell his parents.”