Yeah, he is too old

I remember when my son whom I generally call elder child was a young boy, I got him potty trained at 2.75. No, that is not an exaggeration, remember though he is almost 18 so back then kids got potty trained earlier than they do know. There was also the fact that I landed a stable job and had to put him in a daycare that required he be potty trained, so my Granny and I got him trained in a week with some help from others.

So despite being potty trained before 3, of course elder child went with me to the restroom when he was a wee lad. That was until he turned about 4 and my father, mentioned that he was getting rather big to be coming with me to the ladies room, so I started letting him go into the men’s room by himself. I stayed right next to the door, made him yell out when he got to his stall. I admit it was nerve wracking but at that point I was a single Mama and I leaned on my own parents for guidance. Obviously, the boy survived going to the bathroom alone at age 4 which is good since at age 5.5 he flew alone for the first time to his Dad’s…

The reason I shared this little tale is because somehow in this world of hyper parenting, I have run across Mamas who still are taking 8, 9, and 10 year old boys to the ladies room with them. They do this because they don’t feel comfortable with their sons in a public restroom, they are concerned about predators, pedophiles, and other undesirables that may be hiding in the men’s room.

I gotta be honest and say this is some crazy shit….look, unless a 9 year old boy has special needs he should be able to go to the bathroom, take a piss and get the fuck out. I realize we want to keep out babies childlike and innocent for as long as possible but look we are raising kids. That means we must allow them the chance to grow up. A 9 year old still having to pee in the ladies room is only 7 years away from getting a drivers license and 9 years away from being considered a legal adult. I don’t know but when I look at it that way it makes me think maybe one should start the small stuff first, like letting the kid pee on his own.

Look, the world is a scary place. The first time my kid flew alone was on a court order that if I disobeyed, my ass was going to jail. I was scared shit-less imagining all the scenarios of what could go wrong and you know what? Nothing went wrong. One time we had a flight he was on that had to land someplace else other than the airport I was waiting for him at and as nerve racking as it was he was fine, the flight attendants watched him, fed him and no one harmed him. He was about 7-8 when that happened and merely looked at it as an adventure.

Yes, we want to hold our kids tight but when we hold on too tight that can create problems. By all means be cautious but lets not be crazy. In days not that long ago, an 8-9 year old kid could walk to school alone a mere 6-7 blocks….I know because that kid was me and guess what aside from the occasional stray dog I had to avoid, I turned out fine. Then again I was riding Chicago city buses alone by 10 and that to was fine.

Have a happy Friday!