Friday, January 13, 2012

Chuck-E Cheese & Road Trippin' with a Newly Potty Trained Diva

Little One was just toilet trained over the Holidays. I know the road to being completely toilet trained is sometimes a long one.  Accidents happen.  I get that.  She hasn't had any accidents lately, but I secretly dreaded our 11+ hour drive. It wasn't so much the drive that had me worried (because we're used to taking lengthy road trips), but it was the having to stop at every other gas station or restaurant so she could use the toilet that stressed me out.

She's a fantastic traveler.  She happily sits in her car seat and "reads" books, sings, tells us stories, plays with her toys, eats her snacks, sleeps, and now watches DVDs.  That's an entire blog post on its own though. I've been boycotting getting a DVD player for the car because we don't like Little One watching too much TV.  I caved on the holidays and got her one. More on that later.

Since we live on an island (far, far, far away from all our loved ones and relatives), we always have to make the long drives to see everyone. This time, we accompanied Grampy to Toronto to pick up Lola ("Grandma" in Tagalog/Filipino) at the airport. Toronto is only a 6 hour drive.
 
 LOLA! I missed you!  (Lola has been in the Philippines with Great-Grandma for a month)
We also decided to visit Little One's 4 year old cousin and twincess cousins since Little One doesn't get to see  her cousins often.  Any chance I get get Little One a visit with her cousins, I'll take it. I grew up with my cousins, so having all of the kids living so far apart makes me really sad.

While visiting Little One's cousins, we took the kids to Chuck-E Cheese for the twincesses' 3rd birthday. It was an early/family celebration since we were in town.  Little One and I had never been to Chuck-E Cheese before and I wanted to see what all the hype was about.
 

 
It started off really well. Little One was excited to be going to Chuck-E Cheese for the first time! She was a bit apprehensive and thought it was "too noisy".
 
 
She had fun, but I think it was a bit of sensory overload for her.  Then all hell broke loose.

Chuck-E Cheese entered the room.
Little One was terrified.  She backed herself into the corner of the booth we were sitting in. She looked like a trapped animal. It was so sad (okay, and a little funny - sadistic adults). Chuck-E Cheese left the room and then returned with a pail of tickets to throw around for the kids. When he returned, Little One freaked! She flew from her side of the booth, under the table and across to me.  It was the craziest thing I  had ever seen! She kept saying, "I want to go home now!"

Wow. She thought he was cute when she saw his pictures, but the man-sized mouse really scared her.  Her cousins, on the other hand, were hugging him!  I guess Disney World is going to have to wait for another couple of years.
 Three sleeping princesses - All tuckered out!

Our 11 hour drive home turned out to be a 13 hour drive because of the inclement weather.  Snowy, slushy roads, reduced visibility, black ice...you name it, we had it.  That, coupled with a wee one who has just learned how to use the toilet, made for an adventurous drive.  I put a pull-up on Little One "just in case". I knew we'd be in between gas stations for a huge stretch of the drive. She refuses to use the potty and wants the toilet. She refuses to soil her pull-ups too.

At one point, she got carsick. After changing her clothes, cleaning her and the back of the van, I gave her Gravol and that knocked her out. Poor thing.  She did tell me, "Mommy, you saved me!"

Then she had to poop! We were nowhere near a rest station and she wouldn't go on the side of the road (it was also too dangerous to stop with the reduced visibility). Even with telling her she could poop in her pull-up if she had to, she wouldn't. She also said, "It's not good for me! Owwwweeeeeee! It's hurtin'!"

When we finally stopped, she was relieved. She said, "Mommy! You saved my life!"

Things I've learned on this trip:
1. I'm thankful I don't have to change any poopy diapers anymore!
2. Trips take a lot longer when you've got a child out of diapers/pull-ups.
3. Always carry Children's Gravol when road tripping!
4. Chuck-E Cheese is a fun place, but can be scary and overwhelming for some kids!

12 comments:

  1. Jeeeez! I don't blame her! I hate going there with my kids! {{{{LOL}}}}

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  2. My kids have never been to Chuck E Cheese but they always point longingly at it when we drive by. So glad you are home safe and sound. BTW, I love Manitoulin Island! We have a family cottage in Wiarton and make the trip to Tobermory every summer to cross on The Big Canoe :)

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    1. You know of Manitoulin Island?!?! :) Next time you're up this way, please let me know!!! I'd love to play tour guide for you and your family!

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  3. We love Chuck E Cheese, but yes it is very overwhelming. Love the 3 princesses sleeping too

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    1. :) Maybe when Little One gets older she'll like it more. The 3 sleeping princesses were so cute. I couldn't believe they fell asleep like that...and my daughter sleeping with her head on her cousin's butt!

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  4. HM:
    Me too. I'm afraid of small mice...let alone a giant man-sized one! ;)

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  5. Oh you are a brave Mama to make such a long trip. I used to commute with my toddler when she was toilet teaching....I had a potty in the car and was stressed the whole time!
    Ohh and that picture!! ADORABLE

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  6. I ALWAYS take the potty chair with me, even if Im just going a short distance. If Im somewhere that has an easily accessible potty then I'll let him use that, but if not I dont have to stress, his potty is in the back waiting for him. I know some people object to taking the potty along but I dont like additional stress so I do it. Lil J seems to be perfectly potty trained now, its been weeks since hes had an accident. I just have to fugure out HOW to get him to pull his pants & undies down & up by himself.

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  7. And I LOOOVE the sleeping princess pic-priceless!

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  8. I have to say I can't stand ChuckeE Cheese, although the kids love it there.

    My little guy is newly trained too and traveling does pose a problem for sure - we put him in a pull up just in case too!

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  9. Ah Chuckie Cheese. My kids love it because we don't have it here in Quebec. It is so loud in there, but we take them when we are visiting family and friends. It's a once a year thing if that.

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  10. Chuck E Cheese, it's seriously a love and hate relationship, lol. I love that my kids have so much fun and our entire family is exhausted after as we're leaving there. I also love it when birthday parties are there, my DS wants his there this year, I'm thinking about it, less clean up is always awesome. I hate that it's always crowded no matter what day you go, that some parents don't keep an eye out on their kids and let them run around and sometimes being rude to other little kids there. We only go once a year when my MIL takes all the grandkids there, thank goodness!

    And I must agree with everyone else, that picture of the three princesses sleeping is super adorable!

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