A Dreadful Situation

There are few things that I like better about boys when compared to girls. One of the main things is that when boys have to go potty, they can actually go without touching anything (besides themselves) if they are properly informed beforehand. However, with a little girl that is SO not the case- just about EVERYTHING gets touched in the few feet from the door of the stall to the potty.

Since I have had kids, public restrooms have given me the weeby jeebies more than they used to. As soon as I walk into a bathroom I begin to scrutinize everything- the counters, the FLOOR, the seat, the little trash can in each stall, and even the walls (I've learned a lot from the walls). And there is one thing that I have not allowed Lincoln or Catherine to do and that is to go into the stall by themselves (Lincoln does now... just not at 3) . You know how they get into the "I do it" stage- "I lock it... I wipe my bottom...". Well, Mommy "does it" in the public bathroom in the Brown family. The thought of my child locking themselves into a public bathroom stall and me having to crawl on the floor.... uh, no!

Well I caved on that. One Saturday, at Lincoln's soccer game Catherine had to go potty. Of course it was the day that I forgot Coleman's stroller. So Catherine, Coleman and I walk to the bathroom. As we approach the stall, I am thinking "There is no way all 3 of us are going to fit in that stall." And I go on to imagine the 3 of us in there with Coleman touching everything as I try to help her. That immediately grossed me out because he puts his hands in his mouth every 10 seconds. So, Catherine looks at me says, "Mommy, I do it." I look at her holding the stall door lock. "She can reach it very well," I thought. So I decided okay, she can do it this time, and she did it. So for the past several weeks, Catherine has been going into the stall all by herself.

Well tonight, the dreaded getting locked in a stall happened.... at Chili's restaurant. She went into the stall, said "I do it", went potty, and then she couldn't reach the lock to get out. The bottom of the door was like 12 inches off the ground. There was toilet paper, drips of.... blah, but she had to get out. But guess what? It was my lucky night. Brad took her to the potty tonight and had to scoot on his back into that nasty stall. WOO HOO for me. It didn't happen to me!But it sure was funny when he relayed the story!! I am SO GLAD it wasn't me!!