Potty Odyssey

Now that Will is potty-trained, I find that a major component of my life involves visiting restrooms in public places, and discussing whether they are clean and whether clean people or dirty people use them. This stems from the fact that Will doesn't stand in front of the potty yet, but sits, and needs to know whether it is acceptable for him to put his hands on the potty (NO! YUCK!) or place them on his thighs (THANK YOU! GOOD JOB!).

I've tried to explain that we don't touch ANY potties except for those at home but Will argues that there are exceptions to this rule. This results in vigorous hand-washing, made all the more challenging by the fact I am usually propping him on my knee so he can reach the sink while balancing Sophie on my other hip.

So bonus points to those potties with a sink that isn't installed in the corner of the room, leaving poor Sophie plastered against the drying station or else me trying to vigorously wash Will's hands with my RIGHT hand. (I'm not ambidextrous. Not even close.) EXTRA bonus points to those that have a little seat for infants built in to the wall. (Unfortunately, these are very rare, and if it's not an exceptionally clean restroom, I wouldn't put my little one in there anyway.)

Going into this phase of Will's life, I had assumed that by asking "Do you need to use the potty?" before we left the house, like all good parents do, I would happily avoid the frequent use of public restrooms and thereby keep my baby's sweet little tush as germ-free as possible. There were a couple of miscalculations in this assumption:

#1 - Will LOVES to visit foreign potties. The more exotic, the better. If there is an automatic flusher, faucet or hand-dryer, the excitement level is elevated significantly (as is the chance that multiple trips will be requested).

#2 - Will plans ahead. So when I ask him, "Do you need to use the potty?" before leaving the house, he confidently answers, "Well, there's a potty at {insert destination} that I can use." I've expounded on the benefits of in-home potty use, but these seem to fall on deaf ears. Since some battles aren't worth fighting, I do want him to take ownership of the potty process and I also want to leave the house within the next half hour, we venture out anyway.

I'm now offering a potty-review service for all of you that are or will be potty-training soon.

Dirty Potties:
First convenience store off exit 96 in Bedford County. (Not recommended for anyone that has to sit to do their business. Unfortunately, it's 7 miles to the next exit.)
Taco Bell/Pizza Hut at Nipper's Corner
Lowe's on Nolensville Road
Captain D's in Brentwood

Marginal Potties:
Kohl's in Cool Springs
Las Palmas at Nipper's (I think they really try, but I am pretty discerning; these are my baby's buns we're talking about)

Clean Potties:
Publix at Nippers Corner (a real superlative since we were the first to use it since it was cleaned! Yay!)
Kroger at Nippers Corner (this barely escaped "Marginal" status because the automatic lights make it a bit gloomy at first)
Panera (thanks for bearing with us through TWO trips in the space of 20 minutes)
Kroger gas station at Concord and Nolensville (definitely an A-lister of gas station potties)
Joann Etc in Cool Springs
Snappy Tomato

If there are any others you're wondering about, just ask! Chances are, we've been there or will be there soon!

Coming soon to a potty near you!