When is Too Old to go in the Restroom with Mom?

This may come as a surprise to some people, particularly the menfolk out there, but many things go on in the women's restroom which have nothing to do with actually going to the restroom.  There's the fixing of hair and makeup.  There's gossip (come on, like this is a surprise?), and there's a a lot of fixing of...things: nylons, bra, etc, etc.  In general once women are inside the restroom we kinda expect that if we flip our skirts up to fix something we won't be causing any trouble.  Then again...we could be wrong.

Recently I was in a restroom doing said fixing and had my skirt hitched up much higher than it would ever be in public when a boy somewhere around 7 or 8 years old wandered in with Mom right behind him.  His eyes got big and he stared (which was either because my legs were cute or because he could see just past mid thigh. maybe both) and his mother got all indignant and bustled him out of the room, while giving me death glare.

I'm pretty sure I wasn't doing anything that women don't do in front of the restroom mirror all the time. Kid and Mom are just lucky no one was rearranging their boobs, which folks do all the time.  So this brings me to my question.  At what age do you stop taking junior into your restroom and just stand outside the men's room while he does his thing and returns?  In my brain if they're old enough to head off to school they're plenty old to dart in, pee, wash hands and return.  If they're old enough that they're walking and talking on their own maybe bringing them in could be okay, but with a yelled warning...or find a store with a family rest room, which seem common enough.

Thoughts?

~J

Leggo my Eggo...Seriously?

A couple weeks ago I started noticing a new Eggo commercial, or at least one I hadn't seen before.  In this commercial Mom and Daughter are sitting down to a nice breakfast which looks like some effort and nutrition went into it (a breakfast casserole one day and something with pretty sausage patties on the side the next time) and Son walks into the room, MC Hammer music picks up, and Son does a full dance in the kitchen while wagging his finger and declaring "Won't Touch This".  He then dances out of the room.  This goes on for at least two breakfasts before the enterprising Mom serves Eggo Waffles and says "Stop, Eggo Time."  Kid tries the Eggos, loves them and breakfast is saved...and presumably he eats Eggo Waffles for the rest of his life until he's in college and can't have a toaster in his dorm room.

This commercial drives me NUTS.  Not because it's an advertisement for Eggos, which I've tried a few times and just never developed a taste for, or because of the cheesy music...hey...I grew up in the 80s and had parachute pants, thank you very much.  No, it drives me nuts because of the attitude, and it's one seen a plenty.  Kid is picky.  Kid is allowed to be picky, disrespectfully so, and Mom folds to pickiness of kid. What happened to the idea of trying new things, discussing likes and dislikes and appreciating the work that goes into feeding a family?

It's not like the kid has an allergy or intolerance, either.  He just doesn't like ANYTHING Mom comes up with, and I see this all the time in families which aren't on TV.  My kids saw the ad and laughed because they knew they'd NEVER get away with such behavior.  Yeah, I encourage them to tell me when they don't care for something or really love a food.  It doesn't mean we'll never have the food they don't like again, or that they won't be required to at least manage a few bites in the name of good nutrition and a balanced diet, but I do respect their opinions and we try to figure out what they don't like and see if we can make it better.

Maybe I'm the only 'eat it or else' Mom left in the universe, but I have yet to see my kids suffer from empty bellies and over time many foods once on the taboo list have become family favorites with a few changes to spices or presentation. No, I'm never going to get Bunneh to eat jello with bits in it or shredded coconut, but that's part of the compromise too. Sometimes the compromise is mine and the menu gets changed for the future.

However, the first person that says "won't touch this" while waggling a finger at me better be willing to become MC Cooks the Food as I dance out of the room.