Today we stopped by the library to pick up a couple of things I had on hold. We stood in line, waiting for our turn, and then the moment I was called to the counter, Elijah started dancing around and grabbing himself. I asked if he had to go to the bathroom, and he said Yes!!! The man was already off looking for my holds, and I couldn't just leave, so I sent Elijah around the corner to the bathroom on his own (he had emphatically told me he could *not* wait another minute). Izzie and I finished checking out and went to meet him.
Of course, after checking the women's bathroom and finding no sign of him, I realized that he probably chose to go to the men's bathroom. I waited outside for a few minutes, and watched several other people come and go. Still no sign of my child. Eventually, I sent Izzie in on a recon mission. We learned that he was in there, taking his sweet time. Finally, after taking care of business, he came out with his hands washed and feeling happy as a lark.
So here's my question to all parents (but particularly to moms of boys): When is it appropriate to allow your opposite sex child use the public restroom designated for their sex on their own*?
* I do trust that Elijah will not do gross things like touch the urinals, etc.
3 comments:
When you trust they won't remove the entire supply of paper towels, or flush the toilet 20x, or wash their hands for 15 minutes, and will pull their pants up before exiting a stall. Then he is ready. Of course he needs to be able to reach towels and sinks too! We are not there yet but at school, of course, it's always different at school, little boys do just fine doing all this on their own in the right way! (Preschool go to age 5 and their are no seperate sex bathrooms in our school, so if that says anything about national standards of unreadiness . . . ).
Oh, and upon entering bathroom he must be able to control himself from screaming for that great acoustic bathroom feel. To mothers of twin+ boys: never send them in together!
At that age, I made Jack sing a song (something easy like the ABCs or Happy Birthday) the entire time with a warning if he stopped singing I was coming and I didn't care who saw. One, so I knew where he was. And, two, if his voice/song changed I could kinda determine if something was going on and I needed to go it. I have shouted, "I can't hear you. I'm about to come in." and the suddenly he started screaming the ABCs.
I send Belo all the time by himself, though. He takes so long that plenty of people go in and out so that by the time he's done, I've gotten 3 reports on him from the other bathroom users.
Post a Comment