Well, it finally happened. One of my children threw up (several times) in the middle of a busy grocery store. Now I can let out a sigh of relief. After all, I passed some sort of mom milestone, so it shouldn’t ever happen again, right?
It is an event that I had anticipated with some dread. I’ve heard so many stories from other moms, who had to stand there, covered in vomit, while other shoppers looked at them as those they were bad moms, responsible for the fact that there child was getting sick in the cereal aisle. Don’t those moms know that children should be controlled in grocery stores?
When it happens to you, there is the moment of the surreal. “Did my child just throw up in the middle of the grocery store?” No, that couldn’t be right. My child did not just throw up in the middle of the grocery store. Then it happens again, and again. And as you are standing there helpless until it is all over, there is nothing you can do but rub your poor child’s back and hope that someone will come to your aid.
I’ve heard horror stores of store employees who ignored what was happening, and others who demanded a clean up fee from the mom, who was still in a shocked state and covered with well, regurgitation.
I have to say that this wasn’t my experience at all. Happily, the situation was much better than I anticipated.
A kind customer alerted an employee for me, who quickly assembled a team. They not only cleaned up the mess, but handed me some paper towels, since we were standing in the, um, puddle. They reassured my child, and quickly got to work. I took my son into the bathroom to clean us both up as best as I could.
Outside of the bathroom door, I heard a lot of excited whispering followed by a short knock. I was ready to face the music, but instead, the workers cheerfully presented me with a bunch of flowers, figuring that I was having a hard day.
Those flowers made all of the difference in the world and turned a tough situation into a much better, more positive one. So with that, I want to give a shout out to the store. Trader Joe’s in Wilmington, Delaware, I will be going out of my way to shop there more often, and I hope my friends will do the same.