Food Friday: Travel Snacks--And A Trusty Jug

As you're well aware, we traveled in the car with three boys under the age of 6.

Granted it was only four hours. But it was four hours. I knew we needed snacks of some sort. Because "it's only four hours" quickly turned in to "it hasn't been four hours?" 20 minutes outside of town our kindergartner asked, "Are we there yet?"

I picked up some snacks before the trip. I knew we'd need something to drink and I was excited to see that individual bottled waters were on sale at Target. I picked up animal crackers and Pringles to munch on. Pringles isn't something we usually purchase but it was in a seal-able container and a little less messy than regular chips. Animal crackers are something everyone can enjoy and aren't as messy as regular cookies. But it wasn't the snacks purchase that ended up surprising me at the end of the trip.

Boy, I was I glad I bought the bottled water. You see, when you're traveling with a kindergartner, you have to be prepared for anything. On the last leg of our trip, 30 miles from the nearest rest area on I-35 (and only 10 minutes since we left a gas station and said "are you sure you don't have to go), he announced, "I have to go potty." Ug.
I said, "Can you hold it?"
"No. I have to go real bad. I can just go in nature," he said, pointing to the farmland. I knew that wasn't going to happen. We were not going to risk ourselves pulling over on a 70 MPH Interstate just to let him tinkle.

So I did what any mom would do. I chugged my water jug empty and handed it to him. "Put your penis" (yes, we use the medical term for reproductive organs in our home) "in the jug and go pee". He laughed, looked at me, and then knew I was serious.

To be honest, I couldn't believe I was saying it. But, a mother has to do what a mother has to do. He giggled the entire time he was going to the bathroom. He handed the pee jug back to me (um, thanks) where I put the lid on and put it in our garbage sack.

So if you're potty training or have small children who really can't hold it, it's always helpful to have a container that can double as a pee jug. You never know when you're going to need it. It's better to have pee in a jug than pee all over the seat, the clothes, the car seat, the kid etc.

Thanks, Target, for having bottled water on sale. If it hadn't been for the sale, I don't think I would have bought it. And we would have a mess on our hands.