Perhaps this sounds familiar.
“Mommy..I come in? I come in?” says little brother, as he sticks his tiny wiggling fingers underneath the door of the bathroom, hoping I will playfully “get him.”
“MOM…the door is stuck! I can’t get it open!” says big brother, shaking the doorknob.
Well, thank goodness! That was the entire point of Mommy locking the door. If you are a mom of young children, this same scenario has probably played itself out for you in some variation. You try to go somewhere to have a MOMENT of peace, and you just can’t find it. (Notice I said moment. Not minutes, not hours…just a moment of peace where no one else can get to you. That’s all one can ask for some days.) While I dearly love my two boys, sometimes I just want to use the bathroom without interruption. However, through my last 4.5 years of parenting these cherubs, I have figured out that there are certain circumstances in which you stand a better than average chance of going to the bathroom in peace. Here are a few of them.
1. The SECOND you have started a movie for the kids, or turned on a show…run like the wind! Or tiptoe if you have noisy floors. You just might get to relieve yourself without the kids noticing. (This only works though if watching t.v. is a moderated commodity. Think carefully about turning on the t.v.)
2. The kids went down for a nap? Revert back to childhood when you used to go on those long road trips with your family. Before we would pile in the van, my mom would say “You should at least try to go, even if you don’t have to. We have a long drive ahead.” Moms…you should just try to go. You have a long day ahead. Empty the tank.
3. And the best opportunity: when dad walks in the door at the end of the day. I’d say that it takes less than two minutes to pee, and for at least two minutes your kids are going to be excited about someone else being home. And maybe they will go bang on his bathroom door and not yours.
However, should you be unable to manage one of these feats (i.e. you have already taken away t.v. time for the day, the kids won’t nap, and dad’s on a business trip)…fear not. You can still use the bathroom. Now you just have to be creative about doing so with an audience. Yes, privacy is what you wanted, but like I tell my kids frequently, sometimes “we just can’t have what we want.”
When my oldest was potty training, I talked about going to the bathroom and showed him around the bathroom. I was hoping the same would work with my youngest…and it did, with a twist. I have my own personal potty cheerleader in the form of a two year old.
Me: Mommy is going potty.
Him: Mommy all done?
Me: (tinkle tinkle…) Yep, Mommy is all done!
Him: TA-DA!! Good job Mommy! You went potty!
Little did I know what when I was followed into the bathroom by my youngest child that I would be praised and fist-pumped for going to the bathroom. I guess if I can’t have privacy, having a dimple-faced cheering section is a close second. I have also encouraged the under-the-door-finger-wiggling game that I mentioned earlier as a way to have the door closed and have visual privacy, if not auditory privacy.
And when you’re feeling just completely annoyed with your kids for not letting you have TWO MINUTES of peace…think back to when you were a kid. Did you ever ask your mom if your favorite shirt was washed…through the bathroom door? Did you ask to go to a friend’s house and you just couldn’t wait until she was out of the bathroom so you knocked and asked…through the bathroom door? Sorry Mom. I now understand why this was NOT COOL. Thanks for still answering me.
So lay some ground rules for your kids: TRY to leave Mommy alone when she’s in the bathroom. People in this house need privacy when using the bathroom. And lastly…if the door is locked, it got that way for a reason. Shout and bang on the door all you want, but yelling never unlocked a door.
Wishing you just two minutes of peace in any way that you can find it today.
I still talk to my Mom when she is going to the bathroom! Usually my boys don’t let me have privacy either. The other day I tried to lock the door and the boys cried until I came out! My 2 minutes of peace weren’t so peaceful!
I hope that you can find two minutes of peace some other time – perhaps after they are all sleeping?
I loved it. I never had anyone cheerleading me on. I can hear Oliver saying it.
If it makes you feel better I do prefer going to the bathroom WITHOUT a cheerleader! Haha!
I remember when my newborn son would be propped up on a pillow and follow me with his eyes until I was out of his sight. That moment he sounded the alarm! I remember asking my mother how long would it be before I could go to the bathroom or shower alone again. Thanks for taking me back–it does get better!
Thanks Theresa! I imagine I will one day go to the bathroom by myself (in my own house) again. For now, I will relish those times at work where my students can’t follow me into the bathroom! Glad I could take you back in time for a moment!
Love it…so true! Every time I head to the bathroom, my daughter still asks me, “Poop or pee?” Not so bad when at home. A bit embarrassing at the public restaurant considering her ‘quiet voice’ is as quiet as a thunderstorm…but that is another topic in itself.
Haha Beth…you’re right. Bathroom etiquette in public could be a whole other post. I have tried to explain to Parker why the table next to us doesn’t need to know if I’m going #1 or #2, but he doesn’t get it. And I took out your typo for you…that’s why your follow-up comment is gone. I’ve got your back mama!