When You Gotta Go....You Gotta Go

Of all the things that I feared taking my three kids on a 5.5+ hour car trip, one was foremost on my mind: how will I go to the bathroom with three kids?
E took the stroller up before us to make room in my car for all the other junk I had to bring. I was going to carry the baby into a restaurant to use the bathroom and to eat. I could have put the baby in a sling, but how could I go to the bathroom with a baby in a sling or carrier?

Now before I go any further with this story I need to remind you that I am germ phobic. I NEVER use a public bathroom, only in an emergency. This trip I was lucky enough to have my period.
Now how the hell will I change my pad/tampon with the three kids in one stall and again, what am I going to do with the baby?
I decided to let R hold the baby, she is strong she carries her twin brother on her back, the baby is heavy but I can be swift!

There we go in the handicapped stall of Cracker Barrel in Connecticut. L goes to the bathroom first after I reminded him 12,243,978 times not to touch anything! I hung my purse and diaper bag on the hook and handed the baby to R.
I took down my pants and hovered and peed. It was evident I had my period and I told my kids to watch the baby, I mean really, what a way to scar your kids for life.
"So, you say your mom had her period when she went to the bathroom in Connecticut that time on a trip? You repressed it all this time and now you want to kill yourself because you can't get the vision out of your brain?" his therapist asks L in 20 years.

I did my business quick, I was like the wind. I hudled, I peed I wiped, I wiped again, new pad on, urine out and I was ready to go. I turned to check I had not peed on the toilet and I did a quick wipe down. My son was staring at me. "Eeewwww" he said as he stook a step closer to look into the toilet.
My daughter was turning red from holding half of her weight in the baby so I scooped him up and off we went.
I chalk it up to things you have to do when you are in a jam.
I wonder if that one moment will haunt them for years to come.