What Was the Hardest Place You Ever Took Your Toddler?

Airplane! What a pain. I was in the mist of potty training the princess. She sat on the toilet in the plane and felt air rush up her bottom. Screamed like bloody hell. I walked out of the bathroom with her and everyone on the plane just looked at me. I smiled and said "potty training". Everyone laughed and went "oh yeah". She is now 22 and still won't go to the bathroom on a plane!!!

Hardest place every for me is the ER room, Not wanting them on the floor, touching anythin. That is ER room for another child so they are not the ones being treated. I dread the ER room!

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My husband was scheduled to fly out of a large city airport not too far from our home, for business. Because we had a 6 year old and an almost 2 year old, he planned to just have me drive him just 15 minutes to a city shuttle bus, which he would ride to the airport. Traffic problems arose, and we got to the shuttle too late. There was no choice but to drive directly to the airport, which we did. He was on time, I dropped him off at the curb, and started home.

Everything went ok until we were about to leave downtown for home. It was only supposed to be a 45 minute drive. Since we had intended for him to take the shuttle, we didn't pack things like diapers, snacks, a bottle, etc. This was before I had a cell phone.

The highway led into a long tunnel, which stretched a couple of miles under the harbor. Just a few hundred yards in, traffic stopped dead. A bad accident up ahead had occurred. Cars were on each side of me, ahead of me, behind me. Emergency workers were going on foot to the accident which was at the other end of the tunnel (the exit end).

I didn't have much gas in the car. My 2 year old was already fussy and hungry. My 6 year old kept helpfully saying "Mom, she stinks". "Mom, I think she needs a new diaper". "Mom, why do we have to wait here?" "Mom do you have any Cheerios?" "Is there a McDonalds in here?" We couldn't walk out of the tunnel. It was dark and smelled like car exhaust and low tide.

I turned off the engine. I found some Kleenex, took off the diaper, cleaned her up as best I could, and let both kids out of their car seats. The 2 year old was now naked, and peed at random in the back of the car (a station wagon). I let them crawl around the car, sang songs, and slowly lost my mind. I found a packet of crackers from a restaurant, and broke them in miniscule pieces and handed them out like rations.

More than three hours later, we arrived home. Cranky, hungry, filthy, smelling like car exhaust and pee.

The phone rang. It was my husband. Cheerily he said "hey, where have you been? I'm at the hotel. I tried calling you but figured you must have taken the kids to a playground on the way home! I hope you guys had fun!"

It took him several minutes to translate the sobbing rant which followed.

Hands down the Vet office. My daughter was running like a mad person trying to pet all of the animals. My dog is skittish and was pulling in the opposite direction, so I am trying to hang on to both of them. Then my daughter walks into the exam table, big tears. Then she got mad that the vet was poking around on the dog and told her to QUIT! We were there for a flippin hour and half. We finally get out to pay, the dog pulling frantically for the door and my daughter spots a cat and shouts KITTY and runs off before I can grab her in the opposite direction. I dropped everything, drug the dog behind me and got my daughter. Now we had tears again cause she REALLY wanted to see that kitty! Finally get done, I look at the lady behind the counter and said, "I think mommy needs a drink." She bust out laughing and turned to her co-worker and told her what I said. Next time I am putting them both on leashes.

During the height of my son's doctor phobia I took him to an OB appt. He cried and screamed asking to leave almost the whole time, I had to hold him during the exam (he was 2 1/2) and then as we were leaving he was so upset he tripped over my foot and crashed headfirst into a wall. One patient came running out of the waiting room to see if we were ok. I was so embarrassed and was pretty sure they thought my son had severe mental problems. I am sure your excursion will be better.

Dear R.-

My item that I ALWAYS took with me when I had to take the whole crew were 'bubbles'...lots of activities to do with them...and it is only soap and water!

I still carry them to this day...NOT for my kids (14 and older) but for other moms of toddlers who are having a hard time...

I am probably known as the 'bubble lady' lol

Best luck
michele/cat

I am so glad you asked this because I have laughed out loud reading the answers! I have a challenging toddler - even more challenging than most toddlers, unfortunately - so many places are challenging. Trips to the grocery store have nearly brought me to tears. Trips to the vet, like another mom wrote, are HORRIBLE because she wants to pet all the dogs while my dogs bark like maniacs at EVERYTHING when we're at the vet, so I'm trying to keep them away and chase her at the same time - impossible! But the worst ever was a funeral. I shouldn't have even attempted it. She was 2 1/2 and I told her over and over that she had to sit still and be quiet. She tried hard but she kept asking questions and was just too loud for a quiet funeral. I decided we had to leave and then she SCREAMED that she had been good. She screamed the whole way out the door.

I saw from your post that your trip worked out fine - glad to hear it! And thanks again for asking this and giving me a good laugh!

All I can say is the last time I went to the DMV, I was pleasantly surprised--I was in & out!

And the worst was the stream of THREE companies giving up estimates on new windows--in my OWN house! LOL They grew roots they were there so long.

Take a giant bag of snacks and drinks and diapers.

I would look up what time DMV closes and go there about a half hour before they lock the door. I found this out by accident several years ago. Once you are in the door they have to take care of you, but they want to go home on time so you are done quickly.

The hardest place I ever took my kids too was my brother's funeral. My youngest were 7 and 3, they had never met him because we were in California at the time and my family was here in Wisconsin.

Believe me DMV is much easier.

An OB appointment.
The DMV.
The eye doctor.
The dentist.
House hunting (open houses, realty offices)

They are all challenging, but I've had to take all my kids (now aged 6, 4, and 2) to all of the following over the past 6 years. I solo parent most of the time, my husbands work schedule RARELY allows him to take time off for me to get that kind of stuff done, so I've just adjusted to doing it all as a group.

Here are my tactics.

Bring a stroller to buckle him in.
Bring a special treat type snack - something that he doesn't usually get ... cereal with marshmallows in it is a good one.
Buy a new toy (cheap - but something new) that you can give him part way through. My friend had these great pencils that had balls on the end that light up and spun around - they are great for that age.

Good luck!
J.

restaurants were always the worse since you ahve to sit still and there's so much waiting... Bring a bag of toys to take out as needed, crayons and a coloring book.
This is when it's good to have a small battery operated dvd player - but we didn't have them when my teens were toddlers - we just did what we had to do. Bring books to read to him and things that can be manipulated and playeed with. How about playdoh? health snackes like pretzels, fruit? Soemthing he's otherwise rarely allowed to have? m&m's were my extreme thing to pull out when all else failed. If I sensed a meltdown on it's way I'd offer one for good behavior - only 1 at a time, only when well behaved.

Good luck!

The doctors office or the grocery store. My son hates sitting in the cart, and screams and climbs out. He hates going to the doctors office, so he screams the entire time when we are the waiting room and when we are in the exam room, he constantly tries to get out. He knows how to turn door knobs so I have to physically sit in front of the door. UGH

Updated

The doctors office or the grocery store. My son hates sitting in the cart, and screams and climbs out. He hates going to the doctors office, so he screams the entire time when we are the waiting room and when we are in the exam room, he constantly tries to get out. He knows how to turn door knobs so I have to physically sit in front of the door. UGH

To the river, fun AND difficult.

Imagine taking out six kids 8 and under. This was my fate many years ago but it was never bad or a chore or even difficult. I guess for me having to deal with just one kid alone was a little more challenging.

I made it through by keep favorite toys in my bag ready to go along with counting games and letter games and color games we could play any where we were.

I would keep the toys to a maximum of 3 but only letting him play with 1-2 at a time. It is also important to set up some kind of perimeter he can walk and move around in. He needs to be able to be active.

What helped all of my kids the most is that we go to Worship every Sunday and there they learn how to sit for long periods of time while keeping themselves entertained in a confined space. So by the time they are toddlers, they have already spent much time learning the art of being a little more confined and restricted in movement. So when I had to go to places like the DMV or other business office they were great.

I hope this helps. I probably won't be as bad as you think it will.

Car dealership to sign paperwork and buy our van. They called us around 5 p.m. several days before they had originally said the van would be ready for us (had some minor fix-ups) and asked if we could get there and sign before closing and take it home. Our kids were starving, my toddler needed a nap, and I was close to my third trimester with my third baby. It was raining, we drove (a 45 minute drive on a GOOD day) to the dealership, dealt with two INSANE children (insanely tired, insanely hungry, snacks didn't cut it) in an office with some rather expensive show tv equipment in the corner and nothing that would entertain them for long. I had to wrangle the younger one while my husband fought with the older one, and we tried to hear everything (terms, etc.) over the screaming and switch off dealing with both children while we took turns signing paperwork. It was awful but we did survive. I wish I could say we laugh about it now, but we were so mad when they told us we'd have to bring the van back (again, this was 45 minutes away) because they hadn't actually fixed the things they were going to fix... But you'll make it. When my kids go nuts in public I just start laughing at them and if anyone looks at us funny I just make eye contact and say something about no naps, the age, or "wouldn't it be nice to be able to have a babysitter for errands?" Something that's likely to be a stressful trip with them is always a justification for a new Hot Wheels car in your purse--something to break it up when its getting too awful, and lots of snacks and water. You'll both survive. :)

I'm glad your day wasn't as bad as you thought. The thing I hate the most about going out with my toddler is my husband ALWAYS rushing me to get out the door. He never packs anything - toys, juice, snacks, diapers, etc. but always expects me to have that stuff packed, the kids dressed, myself ready and out the door at whatever insane, arbitrary deadline he has set - even for an unimportant event. It's one trait of his that makes me want to hit him in the head! I always end up forgetting something b/c he's rushing me - a few times the item forgotten has been diapers - not fun!

Honestly Church. But just one time. We go to service every Sunday at 9:30. My husband and I both take our two year old, since she was a week old. Well when I was about 9 month pregnant we were out of town for the weekend so we missed church. I decided to take our daughter to the Monday night service even though it starts at 7 and she is normally in bed by 8. Well my husband wasn't feeling well so I took her myself. (I take her myself occasionally, he isn't as into church as I am) Well for whatever reason this night was HORRIBLE! She wouldn't sit still, she was loud, asking questions, telling stories, climbing around. I still to this day have no idea what got into her. Finally, when she ran down the center asile of the church, I opened up the "wiggle room" myself and turned on the lights and sat in there with her, where for whatever reason she sat perfectly still in her own chair. Go figure!

Don't worry you will get through today, and you will probably have a few stories to laugh about later!

Car dealership to purchase a car. As I drove onto the lot, my current vehicle died. I had no choice but to get a car, and fast.....with a small toddler at my heels. Miserable. Try negotiating price with someone yelling "mommmmmmy I have to go pee BAD" and pulling on your leg.

I didn't have a meltdown, but I did pay too much for a car. Never again!

I had tears coming out of my eyes I was laughing so hard at some of the responses below!

Little League games were the worst with my then-3yo in tow! I suppose it's only right that playgrounds should be far enough away from fields to prevent fly ball accidents, but trying to split time between swings and watching another child play was the cause of many, many meltdowns (his and mine!)

I took my 15 month old on a 9 hour flight, that was hard. I've taken her to the DMV that took forever, the Post Office to get a Passport that took forever. Honestly, I find it harder to take her to the grocery store or department store than the other places. When I know I'm going somewhere I hate, I take the "good" snacks (the kind I save for special outings) and a coloring book and crayons. It works for us.

social security office. the security guard actually told me that i needed to leave the room and he'd come find me when it was my turn. i was almost in tears because my dauhter wasnt even being bad.

Thank you ALL for the tearful laughter! With my oldest I NEVER had issues, she was well behaved and I survived (she is 17) my little ones 3 & 1 OMG ppl let me tell you ANYWHERE I go sucks unless it’s the park & even then I have to make sure they don’t head for the road. I love my child proof house and am perfectly content with staying there until they are 5

dmv with a small child, been there, done that.
feed the child right before you walk out the door, take lots of toys and snacks for you both and a stroller, it can be done, not easy but can be done
K. h.