Outings While Potty Training

Potty training is serious business.  You stay at home and take care of business.  It can be tricky enough that I don't dare much to leave the room, let alone the house.  I suppose you can be rather lackadaisical about the whole affair, like a mother I heard about recently who went out to lunch with her potty-training girls and their potties.  On the other hand, you could be like a lady I knew years ago who lined up babysitters for her older children while she solely focused on the potty trainee.  Whatever works for you and stays within the bounds of common decency!

We have been doing well enough to venture out of our house a few times recently.  At first, it was just driving the elementary school carpool.  We went potty just before leaving, and hurried back to the pots as soon as we walked in the door. Over time, the twins learn how to stay dry for longer periods.  Hallelujah!

We spent the entire morning with my dad the other day.  Even though it was not as familiar as our home, the little guys stayed dry the whole time.  I made sure to take the to the bathroom on a regular basis, and they did great.  Happy day.

And this morning, we went grocery shopping.  That's unnerving with potty-trainers.  One of the more difficult things I've done with little children involves emergency restroom trips (for them or for pregnant me!) with shopping carts full of groceries and other children.  That's the stuff Mommy nightmares are made of.

We went potty just before going to the store and made it through all our shopping (about an hour's worth).  After getting through the checkout and safely into the parking lot, I asked David to load the grocery bags into the van while I took the twins back in for a potty break.

All three of us crowded into a claustrophobic stall, and I boosted Freddie onto the toilet.  Big commercial split toilet seats are rough on little bottoms.  It's so easy to tip into the split, or be pinched by the seat, or even fall in the water.  Just saying.  Georgie got bored, and it was all I could do to keep him from touching the icky floor, pulling out toilet paper, or crawling under the partition into the next stall - all while balancing Freddie so he didn't fall in.

Do you know what happens when a little boy is startled while whizzing?  Let's just say that aim... is non-existent.

Georgie flushed the toilet while Freddie was sitting on it - twice.  Freddie was terrified of the noise, trying desperately to jump onto my head, crying, and still dribbling.  It was lovely.  Then Georgie still needed to go, so I was balancing him on the nasty split toilet seat while trying to keep Freddie with us in the stall.  Finally, we were done.  They both hated the flusher, and were anxious to get away from the scary toilet.

I lifted Georgie off the toilet - and the automatic toilet flushed itself again.  Both boys jumped, panic-stricken, and couldn't get away from the alarming toilet monster fast enough.

Those deafening, self-flushing toilets are enough to scare your pants off!