Running with Toddlers

I heard my kids wake up at 6:40 this morning.  I slowly rose and tried to pause for a peaceful moment of serenity before I went out to the trenches again--and for the first time this year, I noticed yellow leaves on the tree in front of my house.

I can't deny it (though sometimes I'd like to): Fall is in the air.  It was beautiful and calming to look at in those brief minutes.

Then I went to my sons' bedroom and was brought back to reality by the greetings of one singularly nasty Pull Up.

And a very upset toddler...that is, when he learned that he, (not me) would get to clean the grossness up.  That made for a slightly dramatic morning.

After that adventure, I decided that I didn't want to worry about cleaning up any more Pull Up messes today.  Or underwear messes.  That's right.  Taylor didn't wear anything from the waist down today....

...except when I went on my 7 mile run with the kids.  Then, I figured at least underwear was in order.

Has anyone out there gone running with restless toddlers before?  If not, I warn you, it can be a bit tricky.  My little boy questioned me endlessly, as follows:

Taylor: "Mom, I want to walk.  Can I get out?"

Me: (short of breath):  "No.  I....need...to...run...now."

Taylor: "Why?"

Me:  "Just because...I do."

Taylor: "But why do you have to?"

Me: "Because...I'm going... to run...another....race...soon."

Taylor: "Why??"

Me: "Let's just...be quiet for now."

*Brief pause*

Taylor: "When are we going to get to the Porta Potty?"

Me: "Does...the...pee...need to...come out?"

Taylor: "Yes!  It does!"

Me (coming to a screeching halt--pausing stroller, iTunes, making baby Russell fussy.):"Now?  Do you need to get out right now?"

Taylor: "Yes!  We do!"

Me: "Do you think you can wait until we get to the Porta Potty?"

Taylor: "But I need to get OUT!"

Me: "Because you need to go potty?"

Taylor: "No, I don't."

Great.  Thanks for that, little stinker.

It was start, stop.  Start, stop.  For my entire run.  There were questions, potty needs, several potty breaks and potty attempts (shown below), and by the time we were finished, 

I was finished.

When I say "finished," I mean super exhausted.  My mind and body had given just about everything it had to give for that run.  Talk about exhausting! I definitely felt very accomplished when I checked that task off my list.

I've pointed out some struggles of the day, but truly, today was a success.  Besides this morning's Pull Up of death, Taylor had no accidents and even got excited about sitting on the potty, thanks to this new (FREE) discovery:

I think he could pretend to make cupcakes all day if I'd let him. (Hey, maybe that's my ticket out of this...sitting my kid on the potty with "Easy Bake Oven" app all day long! Ha.)

We also decided to give it a try (thanks for your suggestions everyone): and put him in thick trainer underwear tonight.  I'm crossing my fingers!  Andrew had the idea to get him a night light to encourage waking up in the night for potty needs.  The two of them went to Target to choose one: 

        

Here's the winner (can you tell this is a night light?).  Taylor says Buzz will protect him if he get's too scared to go in the dark bathroom.  Cute.