An Unconventional Father's Day

Also titled "why we love Target." Yes, friends, our day of fatherly celebration was spent in the air conditioned confines of the big red bullseye in Niagara Falls NY. Which, in case anyone is ready to beatify my husband, was actually his idea.

Three hours and two loaded shopping carts later, the only reason we left was a crying baby that I couldn't bear to nurse in the not-so-great bathroom. Why do these places never learn? A department full of great baby gear for sale and an ill-equipped and unforgiveably dirty washroom. Why, why why? The marketing geniuses at IKEA have it figured out. Their family washrooms are a shining beacon to every other retailer operating a public loo; proper diaper change tables, not those precarious wall-mounted things, a stash of emergency diapers, a decent armchair for nursing, enough room to spin your Maclaren around and a few toys to keep the toddler amused. And it's all stuff they sell. Brilliant. But I digress.

Why, you ask, would we spend a precious summer Sunday traversing the QEW to a big box store with sub-standard toilets? Because where else can you find a coveted product, one that as far as I know, hasn't even hit the shelves in Toronto, on clearance? It was worth the drive with a 3-year old (who sang Puff the Magic Dragon the.entire.way.) and aforementioned baby in tow, it was worth having to sit in the backseat the entire way, it was worth having to eat lunch at Bob Evans (a depressing ritual my husband won't forsake) because I scored a gorgeous and clever Boon potty for 20 bucks. As my three-year old would say, ha-ha-a-boo-boo.