How old is too old for boys to keep using the ladies' room with their mom? I know, men's rooms can be really scary places. And some should probably not be used by grown men let alone kids. But I get uncomfortable when there are 8, 10, 12 year old boys in the ladies' room. Yes, I am a prude. But I should get to choose who I am comfortable doing you know what around.
Yesterday we were at a big homeschool event at a public amusement park. So naturally there were lots of moms with lots of kids. And a large number of dads too. But I assume the family I'm talking about didn't have a dad with them. I went in the ladies' room and there were 2 boys standing by the sinks. Right by the stalls. Not even at a respectful distance from them. Not right by the doors, or around the corner, right in front of all the stalls!
The boys had to have both been at least 10. They couldn't have gone into the men's room together? With mom standing right outside the door periodically yelling in "everything okay in there?" She was in there with some younger kids too. The older boys could have waited for her outside the ladies' room door? There were two of them. It was a closed event. It wasn't that crowded or unsafe at all.
I know one mom of a 7 year old boy who says she'll let him go in the men's room (in most places) by himself. But she stands outside the door and if she decides it is taking too long will charge on in there yelling "Mom coming in the bathroom" to find out what is going on. She's taught him to go in, look around, decide if it looks okay and walk right back out if anything at all makes him uncomfortable. That seems like a perfect solution to me. And of course, you wouldn't send them far away to a men's room without an adult right nearby.
I freely admit I'm one of the most cautious and paranoid people on the planet. But there comes a time when children should use the bathroom of their own gender. Or find a family bathroom and go in there. Let me pee in private.
2 comments:
I'm a private pee-pee person too! I've been in this same situation just recently. I was unnerved to see a little boy peeking at me through the crack around the stall door! Thankfully, I know to keep myself strategically covered at all times! LOL
I think 10 and 12 year old boys do not belong in the ladies room!
My daughter is almost 12, and she is allowed to go in public restrooms by herself as long as we are outside the door.
As a mom of boys, it all depended on the situation. Brownie Boy was big for his age, so I felt safe letting the 2 of them go in together from the time he was around 8 (Blondie Boy would have been 5) while I stood right outside the door. Then if I had to go, they would wait for me right outside the ladies room door.
I was always more protective if it was just Blondie Boy alone because he was very small & immature. I would usually check out the restroom & when there was no one else I let him come in with me. This was up until about age 10.
It also sometimes depended on the place. Wal-Mart always felt safer than somewhere like the mall in Lexington.
But they most definitely were not in the ladies room past the little boy stage. Just too awkward for everyone!
I have also upon occasion been asked to accompany a little girl whose daddy didn't know what to do with her. It's funny to me that a man would trust a stange woman to accompany his little girl, while I would never let a strange man accompany my boys.
Now in a lot of places you see the family restrooms. It would seem to offer a solution to the problem, but I have never been in one. Are they private just for one family at a time or are they open to several families at once?
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