Public Potty Training.....At The Table???

I happened to come home from work a little early today (I volunteered to go back and finish the night shift though) and came across this wonderfully written post by The Bitchy Waiter. If you haven't read this guy's blog, do so ASAP!! It is hilarious! But, I digress.

After only reading the first few sentences of this post, I was appalled enough to check out the news article he referenced. Sure as shit, almost literally LoL, what he was saying is true (not like I doubted him for an instant, seeing it with my own eyes just makes it more real to me)!!

So, here's the deal. At the Thanksgiving Point Deli restaurant in Lehi, Utah, the mother of twin girls decided it was an awesome idea to sit BOTH her girls on portable potty chairs AT THE TABLE. While they ate their lunch. Practically naked (they had been in jumpsuits until that point) in a LARGE crowd of people. All of whom were also eating their lunches.

According to the witness, Kimberly Decker, who happened to snap a picture of what was going on:

"The more you thought about it, the more unappetizing everything looked around me. I was like this is not ok, we're eating, there was a business meeting with about five or six businessmen going on right next to me. The place was packed."

This is the picture she snapped and then posted on Facebook:

Courtesy of The Bitchy Waiter!

Ok. There are a few things wrong with this in my opinion and I want to share them with this particular mom (and you of course!!). So, here is my list:

1. Poop and Food DO NOT mix!!

This should go without saying, really. Have you NOT heard of E. Coli bacteria?? That is why they have separate, ENCLOSED facilities for doing your business in...

2. Potty-training and jumpsuits/overalls

I understand that they are cute on your kids. If you are potty training them, they don't need to be wearing them!! They are hard to get in and out of and you practically have to strip naked to do your business (see above picture...) which is annoying and very frustrating. Also a big reason lots of kids have potty accidents (as someone who worked in a day care center, I can say this with confidence)!!

3. Possible Predators

Do you know all those people in that crowded restaurant personally? Are any of them registered sex offenders? Are any of them unregistered sex offenders? Did you even stop to think of any of that? Did you realize you would WILLINGLY be putting your children at risk for a potential predator? How do you know that one of those people around you is NOT a predator and WON'T follow you home to further fulfill his plans?

**As a note, a predator would see this as one sign of bad parenting and WILL look for more signs of your bad parenting, which will lead to an opportune moment to strike!!**

4. Disregard for privacy, health codes, and the general public.

Going to the bathroom is suppose to be a private matter (unless you're in prison or some such facility) and not something shared with the world--let alone a whole restaurant--which is something you obviously don't know or don't care about.

 There is a reason health code laws are in place (see point #1 above as an example of just ONE of many reasons) and you are blatantly teaching your children it is okay to break rules/laws.

Your general disregard for how uncomfortable watching your toddlers take a crap made the other customers is also something you are teaching your children. The fact that you put OTHER people at risk for getting sick, due to fecal matter in the air settling on their food, is another obvious disregard for the general public (also going back to point #1 and the health code violation point right above).


5. Plain old bad parenting.

This makes you look like a lazy, bad parent. You are the example given to new parents when told what NOT to do with their children. Well, you and millions of other bad parents, but that is beside the point. We are talking about you here!

When you act like this, let alone in public, you are teaching your very mold-able young children that things like laws and the safety of themselves and others don't matter. When you do things like this you are saying to them, "Do what you want even if it is against the law, puts yourself and others at risk, or bothers other people!!"

THIS IS NOT OKAY!!

While I understand that potty training can be, and often is, a big pain in the ass for a lot of parents and children to master (my honey and I are having issues of our own with his little man), I hope I am not the only one who finds this disgusting and an example of bad parenting...