Sharon
Sharon was late for work again. The second time this week and she knew her boss would not be happy. It was bad enough that she was a single mother and frequently needed time off when Grace was sick, but to be late as often as she was did not put her in the bosses good books. Today was an important meeting and Sharon was hoping to make up for past shortcomings by blowing their minds with her presentation.
But today, Grace, exercising her 2-year-old independence decided she didn't like oatmeal anymore and upended her breakfast all over herself. Sharon tried to keep her temper, it was hard to deal with the terrible two's but she wanted to be a good mother. As Sharon hurriedly cleaned up her daughter for the second time, she looked frantically at the clock and grabbed a second cup of coffee instead of breakfast and headed out the door.
Pulling out of the driveway while gulping down her coffee, Sharon felt her stomach cramp. "Oh no, please, not today" she yelled. Sharon had Irritable Bowel Syndrome which flared up whenever she was stressed...and if she drank coffee on an empty stomach. But she didn't have time for this today. It was just one more thing. She took some deep breaths and prayed her stomach would settle by the time she got to work.
Grace babbled happily in her car seat. She loved going to daycare and Sharon loved having her so close by so she could go and see her on her lunch hour. Usually, their mornings were rushed, but once they were in the car, they would sing songs and tell stories on the drive in. "Sing mommy" yelled Grace. Another cramp grabbed at Sharon's belly and she started to sweat. Maybe singing would help. She started to sing The Wheels On The Bus, usually one of Grace's favourite, but Grace was not having it on this morning. The little girl began demanding a song about fish that Sharon didn't know and would scream whenever Sharon got it wrong. So, with the stress of a recalcitrant baby, and the slow traffic, the coffee, and her lateness, Sharon's stomach reached the point of no return. She was going to have to pull off at a bathroom. The problem was, barreling down the highway, there were not many choices. Finally, as her stomach loudly informed her it was not messing around, she saw a rest stop ahead and pulled up to the outdoor toilets praying no one would be in there. Could she leave Grace in the car...no, there was no question of that. "Come on Baby, Mommy has to go potty" and she grabbed Grace and ran to the toilet. She pulled open the door just as her bowels let go. Oh no she groaned. "Mommy stinky!!" yelled Grace "Mommy go poo poo!" and she giggled.
In the small bathroom, Sharon pondered her predicament. She had no clean underwear in her purse, but she did have baby wipes, that she always kept in case of a Grace emergency. Today it was her emergency. She sat down on the toilet and carefully removed her panties, ignoring Grace's constant questions. Sharon dropped the soiled panties down in the hole and cleaned herself up. "Mommy threw her panties in the toilet!!" Grace shrieked. "Bad mommy!!" Sharon knew she would die if someone was outside and could hear what was going on. But luckily no one was around. Heading back to the car, pantiless and humiliated, she put the baby in the car and they headed on their way.
Grace
She didn't want oatmeal that morning but Mommy wouldn't listen. Most mornings, mommy gave her a choice but today she was being "rush mommy" and there was no choice. Grace was trying out her new assertiveness and she expressed her displeasure by dumping her cereal and hoping mommy would give her what she wanted. Grace knew that wasn't going to happen when she saw mommy's face. And the speed with which she was being cleaned up and changed made her realize she better behave.
In the car, she started to sing the songs they always sang and wondered why Mommy wasn't joining her. And then Mommy started singing the wrong song and it made her mad. Why wasn't mommy being fun today? And she was hungry because she didn't get any breakfast. Today was a bad day! And then, they were pulling off the highway. They never did this! What was going on? Mommy grabbed her out of her car seat and they ran to the toilet. Suddenly Grace smelled poo, but it wasn't coming from her as usual. It was coming from Mommy!! Grace knew Mommy's never pooped their pants and she thought it was hilarious. But Mommy didn't think so. She wanted to know what was going on. Mommy said she was sick. So, Grace kept quiet. Until Mommy threw her panties in the big hole. That was bad! You weren't supposed to throw your clothes away!! And she told Mommy so. Mommy cleaned herself up like she was a baby and they went back in the car and headed on their way. It was the strangest morning Grace had ever known.
Lyla
Lyla was sitting in her car with her boyfriend at the rest stop. They were on their way home from a long weekend and had stopped for a break from the driving. At least that's what Lyla had thought. But Rick had actually stopped so he could tell her he was leaving her! She had thought they had such a good weekend, he had been so attentive and so romantic so different from the way he usually was.
But now he was telling her that he had been trying to find a way to break up with her all weekend, and he felt so guilty about it that he wanted her to have a good time. Lyla was shocked. She had thought maybe, after five years, he was finally going to propose. But no. He had found someone else. Lyla burst into tears and sobbed her heart out. And she looked at the man she thought she loved and who she thought loved her and suddenly felt sick to her stomach.
Lyla jumped out of the car and ran into the toilet. When she saw that it was a hole in the ground and not a tank, she didn't want to throw up there, so she turned to go back outside. But something caught her eye, something bright in the bottom of the hole. Curious, she took a look. All of her tears stopped and she started to laugh. At the bottom of the toilet hole, lay a large pair of pink polka dot granny panties. The absurdity of it all overwhelmed Lyla. Here she was having the worst day of her life and she was looking down at a pair of panties in a toilet along the highway. In a moment of clarity, Lyla realized that Rick had done her a favour. He was a no good loser anyway. He had cheated on her before. Lyla pulled herself together and went back outside, still laughing. Because no matter how bad her day was, she had not had to drop her panties in an outhouse toilet.
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