Before we had children of our own, we wished we could skip the whole diaper stage and jump straight to potty trained kids. The one thing we didn’t really think through in that scenario was potty training the kids.

If you have ever potty trained children, you know how difficult it can be. Even if you wait until they’re older and more interested in using the potty, it’s still difficult and messy. Maybe they get it right away, but accidents still happen. They may be few and far between, but there’s a reason they sell waterproof mattress protectors and made potty chairs that you could even bring with you in your car for long road trips.

Some kids may learn how to use the potty in just 1 day, but they still have to make it to the bathroom before they have an accident. We’ve found that it’s not just helpful but actually necessary to remind our newly potty trained children to go potty every couple of hours. Still, there have been instances where our little ones have to go again sooner than we expect, and it’s not always easy to get to a bathroom fast enough. Sometimes we’re at the park or in the mall, and we have to race to the closest bathroom.

Pro tip: Always know where the bathrooms are when you’re going somewhere with kids. Like, look it up before you even get to the store/park/beach/restaurant or ask someone as soon as you get there.

The worst thing is when we’re in the car and our kids have to go to the bathroom. Sure, we had them go before we left home, but as we mentioned, sometimes they have to go again fairly quickly.

Brooke Jones experienced a potty training nightmare when she was in the car with her 3-year-old son Cohen. She wasn’t anywhere near a bathroom when he told her he had to go potty and that he had to go potty right now.

She quickly pulled the car over in the first parking lot she could find. It happened to be a gas station. Cohen was already peeing in his pants. She didn’t have time to find the gas station bathroom, so she let him pee in the gas station parking lot while she tried to cover him the best she could.

A deputy wrote Brooke a ticket for disorderly conduct. She has to go to court and could face a $1000 fine or 60 days in jail. Oh, did we mention that she’s pregnant and due just a couple days after the court date?

Watch the video below to hear Brooke explain this potty training nightmare situation.

When you were potty training your kids, did they ever have accidents? Do you think the deputy was out of line for writing this ticket?