Well she was only little at the time ....
.
but my eldest daughter managed to stink out the entire customer toilets in Lewis's Edinburgh shop.

We were out (browsing more than shopping) when she whispered the magic words,

"Mummy, I need a poop."

As any parent can testify, this is not a warning to be ignored. I immediately headed for Lewis's to use their toilets, always sparklingly clean and not often very busy.

We found a cubicle, entered, and I plonked her on the toilet 'cos her little legs didn't quite reach. She did the deed, and as I bent over to clean her up, the stench hit me. One of the worst things I have ever smelled. She'd been at her gran's for tea the day before and god only knows what the old dear had fed her. It was heavy on the garlic, I knew that much!

Never before in her life had she nearly made me puke. Like every other parent I know, I was generally immune to the noxious smell produced by an otherwise innocent looking child. This one was different.

I can only describe the smell as a mixture of something long-dead and a garlic filled room. I was gagging as I cleaned her up, and was never so glad to get out of a toilet cubicle in my life.

When we moved to the sinks to wash our hands, I swear the smell followed like a faithful hound. Two elderly ladies came in, sniffed, and looked around in utter disgust. They seemed convinced someone hadn't flushed, and muttered abut complaining to the manager. I'd love to have witnessed that conversation. To my relief, they never even considered that my small, incredibly cute toddler, or even my not-so-small self, could be responsible for the stench.

We left in great haste and it was some time before I returned to that shop. I was actually slightly surprised that the stench had gone when we (as usual) had to pay a visit to the Ladies loo.
(TheWeeWitch hasn't been here much recently .., Thu 27 Mar 2008, 18:32, Reply)