When my daughter was little the two of us did a lot of traveling and camping by van. Bathrooming was sometimes a major project even with one girl.
If we went to a large public venue, like a circus, and she (or worse both of us) had to go, the guy's restrooms were usually the pits, with, maybe, one stall you wouldn't sit down on and a line of cruddy urinals, or just a trough at the Fair or carnival, and of course full of men (in a pinch in a clean non-crowded place I could usually usher her quickly into a stall while distracting her away from other activity which at that point she really was not interested in anyway. At that age I could also go while we were both in a stall.). The lady's room line was always a mile long, while at the men's there would hardly be any line . At an intermission it was likely that I also had to go, which would only take a half-minute in and out, but where do you leave a child? So I would look for a smart-looking woman or pair (like you say they travel in pairs), or sweet teen girls in line who looked trustworthy, and make a loud enough request (making sure all of those waiting knew what was happening) of them to buttist her. Then I would quickly go do my thing while the whole line of daughter-monitors made sure her needs were met properly. They usually helped her clean up etc. and probably did a much better job of teaching her hygiene than I could, and usually made a nice fuss over her.
At rest areas on interstate highways I never was able to trust anyone because there was usually no crowd around to monitor each other. Having traveled a lot and gone through weird experiences I was even wary about my own safety at rest areas. By that time usually she was able to do it herself, but I wanted to be right outside the door waiting. (I would ask ladies entering if they could check on her) Depending on who had to go worse (Honey, on a scale of 1 to....?:-) or other circumstances I would either set her up with a plaything in the back of the van, lock it and quickly run in and out of the men's room --or more likely take her, wait outside with my legs crossed, then hurry her back then lock her in the van for the few minutes I needed.
(No, of course I would not lock her in a closed van in the hot sun or take any other potentially harmful risks. My van was like a tiny apartment inside where she liked to play and draw at the table even in more casual circumstances (Pre-DVD Player days thank God). I would have sooner gone in my pants than take risks which by the way never happened, but maybe almost.)
I used portable potties some in the van for her but that is not a preferred thing, plus then she got to the age where I still had to go alone. Considering the number of times in a day this may occur, every call of nature presented its own challenge.
No complaints here though --it all goes by too quickly. -- Lefty
Life is for learning The worst I ever had was wonderful
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