We didn’t really hit all that much traffic and everything went smoothly. This is not an easy task when you have a 4-year-old and a 7-year-old. One false move and the perfect homeostasis in the car we had achieved could be COMPLETELY ruined. We almost gave our youngest the wrong snack, but we narrowly avoided an incident because, fortunately, this isn’t our first time at the rodeo and had duplicate snacks for both kids. The weekend was wonderful, only having a few minor incidents that honestly can’t be avoided when small children are involved. The trip home, however, was an entirely different matter.
My husband suggested we leave a bit earlier and perhaps avoid I-90. Being the stubborn woman that I am, thought "no no, we’ll be fine." We don’t have to leave so early. Taking back roads would take longer than I-90 would. Surely I-90 can’t be that bad. Looking back now, I can laugh, but as I was driving through it I kinda wanted to cry. Because we were starting the trek home after an already long day, by the time we got to the car to head home, the little ones were cranky. The 1st hour was non-stop fighting. The 4-year-old kept poking the 7-year-old. “Mommy he stole my pillow.” “Mommy he got Cheetos all over my leg.” I had perhaps 1 unfrayed nerve left by this point, so you can imagine my emotional state when we happened upon every single traffic incident on I-90.
As we sat for our 2nd consecutive hour in bumper to bumper traffic, having moved about 4 square feet, it happened. “Mommy, I have to go potty.” No. No no. No nooooo. Not 5 minutes later the 4-year-old also needed a potty. Let me break down the situation for you. We were in the left middle lane of 4 lane bumper traffic. Both small children need a bathroom that simply does not exist and I’m just sitting here accepting my fate and trying to figure out how to best limit the pee smell for the remainder of our journey. Even the strawberry field air freshener wasn’t going to make this situation better.
Without missing a beat, my husband simply leaned around into the back seat, held out an empty Gatorade bottle and told them to do what he needed to do. This idea had never even occurred to me. Frankly, it blew my mind a little bit. How could I have missed the most obvious solution?! Well long story short, the kids settled back down and we made it home 5 1/2 HOURS of travel time, but we made it. What we learned from this experience is that 1.) leave early when you need to drive home on a major holiday. 2.) Avoid main roads when traveling home on a major holiday. 3.) Never underestimate the value of an empty Gatorade bottle.

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