Accidents Can Happen Summary: A 12-year-old boy named Robby and his now 14-year-old cousin Jack attend a relative’s funeral one Saturday. It's a world where all boys at the age of 10 lose bladder control and have to go back to diapers for 2 or 3 years, until puberty sets in and they gradually regain control, enabling them to be toilet trained and weaned off of diapers. This is a story of how a family of close-knit men deals with the ups and downs of toilet training their pubescent sons and grandsons in the context of a family event. UNCLE JOE'S FUNERAL: THE SETTING AND SOME BACKGROUND Robbie Smith is now 12 years old and eleven months, and his cousin, Jack Smith, is 14 years old and 2 months. Their world is the same as the world we all live in, except for one important thing. All boys around their 10th birthday lose bladder control. It’s a natural part of pre-puberty, whereby the prostate gland grows out of proportion to the bladder, causing the bladder to be pressed against and making boys lose control of urine. This is not painful, just embarrassing. By 12 to 13, boys start to grow out of this because puberty is setting in and the prostate slows down its growth rate. Once the bladder grows to even capacity with the prostate, boys regain the sense of when it’s time to pee and they can be re-toilet trained. To deal with this worldwide phenomenon, boys go back into diapers at age 10, and stay in them until they have been successfully toilet trained, usually 2 to 3 years later. All of the brands for babies, such as Pampers, Huggies and Luvs make diapers for pre-pubescent and pubescent boys, too. They’re sold in the same aisles of the stores as the baby sizes, but the packaging is age-appropriate to the boys who wear them. Commercials on TV for boys’ sizes diapers are common, especially on stations that show cartoons, sports and other programs aimed at boys of this age. Dads and other adult male family members take charge of changing their pre-pubescent and pubescent boys. Male teachers and principals do the honors while the boys are at school, and every school for boys between the grades of 4th-8th has an ample stock of diapers for all of those changes. Lavatory breaks for these boys means going to the change room for a fresh diaper. It was August of 1984, and Robbie was going to be 13 the following month and enter the 8th grade. During Christmas break from school 8 and a half months earlier, Robbie’s dad Bob successfully toilet trained Robbie for during the day. He still needed a Pamper at night 8 months later, but was usually dry during the day. The previous January, Rob decided to stop putting training briefs and rubber pants on Robbie during the day, because he was always making it to the toilet. The day they went to K-mart to buy new Fruit of the Loom regular briefs for Robbie (they call them undies), was followed by a victory lunch at Burger King for this great achievement. Yeah, they still had to buy some Pampers that day for at night, but the big victory was won and Rob wasn't going to push his son out of diapers at night until he woke up dry the next morning. Rob told Robbie that this might not happen for quite some time, and not to be anxious for it to happen. "When you're ready to sleep without a Pamper, we'll know it." Jack was Robbie's cousin, and he had turned 14 the previous June, and was going into the 9th grade next month. His dad John tried toilet training Jack during the Christmas break that he was in the 7th grade, but he just wasn’t ready. After a couple of weeks of struggles, frustrations, and many accidents, John decided to keep Jack in diapers and try toilet training again during summer vacation. During the summer of 1983, Jack mastered toilet training during the day, and by the spring of 1984 he was staying dry at night. About 6 weeks before his 14th birthday, Jack stopped wearing Pampers at night. Robbie and Jack slept over at each others houses at least monthly, so Robbie knew when his cousin was no longer diapered, and figured that he too might be about 14 before he was able to sleep without a Pamper on. From January to April of 1984, Rob never diapered his son Robbie during the day. Both father and son donned white Fruit of the Loom briefs under their pants every day. Then one Saturday in April, all the guys in the family met at Robbie and Jack's grandfather's house to spend the day cleaning out the basement and hauling away junk. That's the day that Robbie got so into his work that he wanted to postpone making a trip to the bathroom until it was convenient for him. While sitting in a chair sorting clothes, Robbie peed himself big time, and ended up with a huge dark wet spot on the back side of his jeans and a puddle of urine in the wooden chair. He tried to clean up the chair discreetly, but everyone could see the big wet spot on his pants when he walked. His dad was shocked when he saw Robbie wet, and insisted that he needed a diaper. Dad was embarrassed that he allowed his 12-year-old son to go to his own father's house undiapered when he had such a massive accident. He felt that he looked bad as a parent, and that his other family members might be critical of him. Rob was really overreacting, and his own brother, father and uncle assured him that it was no big deal, and that boys can have accidents even after we think they're completely trained. To make a long story short, Jack's dad John (Robbie's uncle and Rob's brother) took Robbie to his house next door, put him in one of Jack's Pampers and gave him a pair of Jack's jeans to wear for the rest of the day. The jeans were too big for him and at times revealed ample amounts of his white plastic Pamper, but everyone, including Robbie and Rob, quickly ended-up forgetting about the accident and had lots of fun with all the male members of the Smith family that day. Plus, they really got grandpop's basement clean. THE FUNERAL DAY: Grandpop's oldest brother Joe had been sick for some time, and was not present the day 4 months earlier when they cleaned the basement. The day of the funeral was a Saturday in August, and as usual, Robbie woke up to his alarm clock, got up, took off his wet Pamper, threw it away and hit the shower. When he came back into his bedroom after the shower, his dad was there waiting with a changing pad and a Pamper lying on the bed. Rob could see a sort of confused and disappointed look on his son's face and said: "Robbie, I'm going to put a diaper on you because it might be really hard for you to get to the bathroom when you need too today. We've got to drive a long way to the funeral parlor, then there's the church and we don't know where the bathrooms are, then the slow car ride to the cemetery where there's no bathroom, then the ride to the restaurant. I don't like to do this to you, champ, but I think it's the way we got to go today, my man." Robbie appreciated his dad's apologetic tone, and told his dad "I understand; it's better to be safe then sorry." Robbie took off his robe and lay naked on the changing pad, while Rob grabbed some diaper cream and applied it to his son's entire diaper area. Then he wiped off his hands with some wipes, dried them on a blanket from the bed, and put the Pamper on his son. Then Robbie got up to start to get dressed, and Rob suggested what would be good for him to wear to the funeral. Rob picked out a short-sleeve white shirt, and a pair of greenish-gray khaki-type pants with a black dress belt, and dress shoes. Robbie put all of the clothes on. The pants fit fine over his thick Pamper, and he looked really sharp. Both his mom and dad complemented him on how sharp he looked. Before the family left for the funeral parlor, which was about 45 minutes away, Rob went into Robbie's room to get an extra Pamper. He tucked it into the inside pocket of his sport coat and it fit fine, not causing too much bulk. He also had a very thin packet of wipes that he put in the other inside pocket of the coat. Then the entire family got into the car and headed for the funeral parlor. Ever since Robbie's big pantswetting accident in April, Rob has kept a duffle bag with Pampers and a clean change of clothes for Robbie in the trunk of his car. Since then, Robbie has been doing excellent with getting to the bathroom on time and Rob has rarely diapers his son during the day. The only exceptions have been these: After the big accident at his grandfather's house last April, his grandparents had a yard sale two weeks later. Rob was in Robbie's room waiting with a Pamper that day, just like he was this morning. The other times were on vacation this summer. Robbie wore Pampers on all the long car rides, as well as while swimming and on long walks. On these rare occasions when Robbie wears a diaper during the day, he knows that he is just supposed to pee right where he is whenever he needs to. No holding it until he gets to the bathroom, these rare days he is just supposed to pee right where he's at. Rob diapered Robbie about 8:30 am, and at 10:30 when they were getting ready to leave the funeral parlor, Rob felt Robbie's bottom with his hand to check and see if he needed changing. He felt dry to Rob, and he asked his son if he was doing ok down there, and Robbie said that he was in good shape. Robbie had peed a little bit in his diaper after breakfast back at the house, but the ample absorbent padding and stay-dry lining made him forget about that almost as quickly as it happened. The diaper absorbed it so well that his dad could not detect that Robbie had wet in it when he did a butt pat check. At the church, Robbie peed in his diaper again while kneeling. The position he was in made the pee go right to the middle of the diaper where the most padding is. Again, the ample padding and stay-dry lining, coupled with the layer of diaper cream he had on, kept him from feeling any wetness touch his skin. Off to the cemetery. For August, this was a particularly cold and windy day. With just a short-sleeve thin cotton shirt on, and the hill that the cemetery was on made the wind feel really cold, Robbie felt the urge to pee really bad from the cold. He was really thankful at that moment that dad had diapered him. Robbie peed a really good volume that time, and he thought to himself for a minute that he might need a change once they got back to the car. Because he was standing when he peed, the wetness went right to the center of the diaper again, and spread a little bit toward the back padding, but was absorbed as quickly as it hit the diaper. The stay-dry lining was still keeping Robbie dry, and when the cemetery service was over, Cousin Jack came over with another cousin who was 14, whom they had not seen in a while, and they started to hang out. They were having such a good time hanging out, that Rob and John agreed that the 3 boys could ride together to the restaurant in Uncle John's car. Robbie forgot about his diaper. The restaurant was maybe a 10-minute ride from the cemetery. When they got there, the air conditioning had been shut off because it was so cool. However, no window could open and the place got really hot. Sodas were free from the bar, so all of the boys had a couple of them. By now it is 12:45, and the food is coming out. The 3 cousins and the 3 sets of parents and the other siblings sit at a large corner circular table, and proceed to get food. Robbie and his dad are so involved in talking to different people that they have both forgotten about checking his diaper. Rob took off his sport coat and put it on the back of his chair as soon as he was seated, due to the heat. When he was wearing it, at times he could feel the extra diaper in his pocket. When they first got to the restaurant, Rob was going to immediately find his son and check him to see if he needed changing. As he was going to get his son, some relative whom he had not seen in ages caught him and engrossed him in conversation. Then they went into the banquet room which was too warm, and the men started taking off their sport coats. When Rob took off his jacket, there was no bulky diaper in the pocket to remind him to change his son. Now it's close to 1:30, and conversations have not ceased. Robbie feels the need to pee and forgets for a minute how much he had soaked his diaper at the cemetery. Because he has temporally forgotten, he doesn't ask his dad to change him. Instead, he just sits there and pees. The stay dry-lining has still kept Robbie feeling dry up to this point, even though the padding has had a lot of pee in it since the cemetery. Robbie sits in his seat and pees, but then, his diaper leaks. As soon as he feels wetness touch his thighs, he gets a horrified look on his face and looks down at his crotch. Cousin Jack sees Robbie's face, and looks down at Robbie's crotch at the same time Robbie does, and he can see pee quickly seeping out of both sides of Robbie's gray pants between his legs. Jack says excitedly, "Robbie, you're peeing!" Rob hears it and says, "oh no", and he immediately gets up, pulls the Pamper and the wipes out of his sport coat that is draped over his chair, goes over to Robbie and says "come with me." Robbie responds, "I'm sorry, dad." "That's okay, just come with me now." The people at the next 2 tables can hear, and they see that Rob is hurriedly escorting his son out of the room and that he is carrying a diaper, and that Robbie doesn't seem very happy. The people at the other tables cannot see the wet spots on Robbie's pants or on his chair from the angle that they are sitting. The people at his own table do catch a glimpse of the wet spot on Robbie's chair, which is plastic and can be wiped off very easily. Grandpop goes to the bar and asks for several paper towels. The bartender asks if something was spilled that needs to be cleaned up, and he says, "I'm sorry, but my grandson had a little accident on one of your chairs." "Oh, no problem," says the bartender, who comes and wipes up the spot of pee, and says "no damage done," with a smile. Rob takes Robbie down a hall to the men's room to change him. In this world, it's acceptable for a boy to walk around in public without pants if he has a diaper on, especially in the summer. That was Rob's plan for Robbie, that he go back to the reception hall in his shirt, Pamper, socks and dress shoes. As they get ready to leave the men's room, Rob puts the little packet of wipes in his pants pocket, throws away Robbie's wet Pamper, and both wash their hands. A relative comes in and sees Robbie walking out without pants and say's, "You got the right idea; it's too hot out there." Rob then says, "I'm going to take your pants out to the car. You can go back to the dinner." "Dad, can I change into the clothes out in the car?" says Robbie. "Sure you can if you want, are you a little self-conscious about going in there with your Pamper on?" "Yeah Dad, a little, I'm getting kind of big for that." "Okay," says Dad. Instead of going through the reception hall and down the steps, Rob takes his son on an elevator, and they walk out to the car by themselves without relatives seeing Robbie in his Pamper. Rob gets the duffle bag out of the trunk, gives him the jeans, and Robbie slips his shoes off in the parking lot, puts his jeans on, then puts his shoes back on. Rob says, "This shirt is probably more comfortable than the one you've got on; you want to change that too." "Sure Dad," says Robbie. Rob gives his son the shirt, then grabs a Pamper out of the duffle bag and walks back to the reception with it, just in case Robbie needs changing again before they go. Rob wants to hang out for a while to catch up with the relatives at his table whom he was really enjoying talking too. This might take a while, so an extra diaper on hand is important. When they come in together, everyone is happy that they're back, and one guy at the table says, "Robbie, you look a lot happier and a lot more comfortable." "Definitely," says Robbie. Rob is carrying the extra Pamper in his hand, and he puts it in the windowsill by the table where they are sitting, and father and son proceed to sit down, except Robbie checks to see if his seat is dry. "Don't worry", says Grandpop, "We got it all cleaned up for yeh." Soon, a report comes that there are pinball machines and air hockey in a back room downstairs. The boys all go as a group, with other cousins ranging in age from 11-14. The End.