Day 24: Having a 2-year-old changes everything

Carolyn, my 2-year-old daughter, is my public transportation X factor.

You never know when she’ll toss her bathing suit bottom out of the stroller on the way home from the public pool, which you haven’t been to since because other mom’s frown upon a bottomless toddler.

When you finally get time to go to Target, you never know when she’ll decide to play hide and seek in the electronic department and use protester tactics when you try to walk her to the checkout.

You never know when this tantrum will cost you the five precious minutes you needed to catch the correct bus.

You do know the bus route by your house only runs once an hour. You also know (from experience) that walking the final mile with a tired, hot toddler is out of the question.

You never know when your connecting bus left early (or maybe the connector bus got there late) and you know you won’t be home for another hour. You never know whether to bribe your daughter with promises of juice or threaten her with the punishment of “her room” to get her to stop grabbing the hair of the woman in front of you.

And the short answer -— you never know when an hour trip to Target will take three hours. It all depends on knowing the unknown.

Trust me. This all makes sense to mothers with small children.