A Good Question

Why do public restrooms not have any accommodations for kids? They have the baby changing table thing that's attached to the wall, then it's assumed that children won't need to use the bathrooms until they are at least 4 feet tall. I've got two kids, so we always have to go into the handicap stall. It's the only one that is big enough for the three of us. Hopefully it's big enough that my kids don't have to touch anything! But of course the toilet in that one is insanely tall, so I'm basically holding each kid while they pee. My five year old is tall, and she can hardly keep her balance on one of those. My two year old is in constant danger of falling in and never being heard from again. Then once they leave the handicap stall, another problem arises. The sinks are very high. The soap is completely out of reach and almost all bathrooms these days have those motion detection faucets that only turn on for 3 second. It's nearly impossible to hold a heavy kid up to the sink, get soap on their hands and also try keep the water on long enough for them to rinse it off. I have no clue how someone in a wheel chair is supposed to was their hands. Skipping the hand washing is not even an option, because kids can't help but touch gross stuff. Sasha once held onto the toilet seat to brace herself from falling in. She had no choice, but I still shudder to think about it. GROSS! I've always known it was a pain taking kids into public restrooms, but the other day I took my kids into the Babies'R'Us bathroom and I was thrilled at the sight of a kid height sink. We still had the normal tall toilet drama, but BOTH of my girls loved using this super low kid sink. The soap was even within reach. I couldn't believe it. It was such a simple idea and it made such a difference. Dare I say it was even fun for them. A store for pregnant women solved half of the problem. That was when I really started to wonder why all public bathrooms can't have one sink mounted really low, and maybe even one of those tiny kindergarten toilets. Wouldn't that be nice? Adults need to wash their hands, but kids REALLY need to wash their hands. They are touching so many yucky things all the time, especially in a public bathroom. So maybe one day when I no longer need these accommodations, I'll have some time to go on a kid-friendly bathroom crusade.