We recently returned from a family road trip which was actually pleasant.

I know. I am as surprised as you are.

No one cried, fought, vomited or peed in the car. There was chit-chat, music and napping without screaming, wailing and gnashing of teeth.

When we stopped to use the restroom I didn't have the urge to run to the side of the road with a thumb out begging for a ride.

We were driving through Alabama and had just passed Cynical Tattoos (Not that this is a landmark, but how funny is that? Cynical Tattoos. The possibilities here are limitless.) when it was time for a little pit stop.

Emma, my five-year-old was telling time on her new digital watch and said, "Hey! It's 6:23. That's weird 'cause just a few minutes ago it said it was 6:21… something's fishy here."

I tried aimlessly to explain that a few minutes ago it was a few minutes earlier but she totally didn't get it.

And it was a little fishy because it was only 11:47 a.m. but we stopped anyway.

I walked Emma into the two-stall restroom and I sent her in a stall while I waited by the sink. It still thrills me a little to be able to do that… just send her in a stall and not have to get involved.

While Emma was in a stall, Aubrey walked in the restroom and without a word to me walked into the next stall and shut the door.

Emma heard the stall door shut, undoubtedly looked down and saw her sister's shoes and said, "Hey, Aubrey. That you?"

"Nope." Aubrey said, in her very Aubrey voice.

"Yes it is!" Emma yelled from her stall.

"NO. It's not! It's just someone with shoes like mine… and um, pants like me. It's not me!" Aubrey yelled back.

"Aubrey O'Bryant you are not tricking me! I know that is you!"

Aubrey sounded angry this time, "It is not me! It's um…. It's Ashley!"

"Would y'all please quit fighting and go to the bathroom?" I interjected.

"Momma! Don't tell her it's me!" Aubrey huffed.

The toilets flushed in tandem and as they walked out of the stalls Emma pounced in front of Aubrey and pointed at her sister.

"A-ha! See! I told you it was you!"

Aubrey rolled her eyes as she washed her hands and I laughed out loud - giddy that for the first time in the history of my family, a trip to a public restroom was funny simply because it was funny and not because it was a near death experience that could be exploited for further use.

(Robin O'Bryant is an author, humorist and speaker. Her latest book is "Ketchup is a Vegetable and Other Lies Moms Tell Themselves." Connect with her on Facebook and Twitter or visit her blog at www.robinschicks.com.)