How to Avoid Peeing Your Pants: The Ultimate Embarrassment

Yes, I could have titled this article "How to Decrease Your Chances of Incontinence." That would have certainly sounded nicer and would have been much more correct. But by the time you got through that title, you might have already done what the article is telling you to prevent. (Before I go on any further, I would like to apologize to my two wonderful daughters who will be reading this.)

Being a woman of a certain age, get me to the bathroom on time is my mantra. I think it when I'm walking long distances-actually, pray it would be more accurate-when I leave the house, when I come back into the house, before I get in the car, as soon as I get out of the car, before I sit down to eat, when I walk into a restaurant, when I leave a restaurant, entering the movies, leaving the movies, before I do anything I enjoy, before I start teaching (as a substitute teacher in the school). Of course, I have to go at the times normal people do-before sleep, after waking-and one to two times in the middle of the night. But when you have to pee before you go to the bathroom, you've got a problem.

So based purely on my own experience, here is my advice:

If you feel like you might have to go, go. Don't wait. Never think you can hold it-even if you can.

A couple of years ago, my boyfriend and I were leaving a Chinese restaurant in Boston. I had several cups of tea, soup and a diet Coke. Of course, I had gone to the ladies' room a couple of times already. But when we were finally leaving, I thought I might have to go, but I would just hold it. After all it was only about a 20 minute MBTA ride home and a few blocks to walk.