He did just that. He was very glad when she got old enough to go into the ladies room by herself. Of course, until this year, I would take David in with me beacuse of the same issues. Now he won't set foot inside the ladies room because it's a "girl's room...ewwww"

That's easier though (except for the boy's girl's room aversion), because women's rooms have individual stalls.

The scary thing about the big venue public restrooms are when they have two entrance/exit spots--when crowds gather, it's very hard to spot which one they're coming out of. I think I'd also have issues with taking a little girl into a mens' room because of the urinal situation (or, in the case of Wrigley Field, the "trough"--can you tell where my dad took me to ball games as a child?)

I now cherish the thought of the family public restroom.

That's very funny. I never thought about these bathroom issues. I'm childless, but coming from a big family you'd think I'd still remember what an issue it might have been. I do remember there was a certain age at which I was segregated out from my dad & little brothers as far as taking showers together (at home) was concerned...

My son and daughter still get a bath together (which I'll be giving them in about 3 hours). I'm not sure at what age that should/will change.

I'm not shy at all--five kids, one bathroom so I'd seen my fair share. It's the stranger penis that worries me.

in Alaska, which is apparently a short flight from Melbourne these days).

Whoot! I see visits for long weekends. Perhaps me in Melbourne in our winter, billytea and Wallybee in Juneau during theirs. Fantabulous!

I escaped the siren lure of cable until Babylon 5 moved to TNT. Once I finally had cable, I'm like, "Cooking shows! Crafts! Decorating! Dinosaurs!" It would be hard to go back.

For me it was Buffy. No WB here without cable. I only have teeny-tiny cable, but SciFi is slowly but surely dragging me towards big cable.

Hee. My desk is the worst, I thought. I was in a doctor's office last week doing something to his computer and was delighted that his office was so much worse than mine.

I'll bet my office is worse yet. I keep remembering the first few years in this job, when I cleaned off my desk every night (except a couple of nights when I was in the middle of a project). I had never been that tidy before, and fear I will never be even close again. Even my guest chair is covered with books. Sigh.

A much more important topic, is that I still have to decide on f2f. I would desperately love to come, and my friend in Oregon would desperately love me to come and visit him on the way there or back. He has even offered me miles. But, it's not a great time to get away from work and the trip wouldn't be cheap even with miles and I have to go back east in the fall for my niece's wedding, and scheduling is a bear. I love Juneau, but travelling to and from is a pain. Ack. Decisions.

My dad told me to shut my eyes, carried me into the stall, held me up while I did my thing. told me to shut my eyes, went to the sink and held me while I washed my hands, then we left. And he was very specific about not telling my mother :)

Gud, I can't even remember what age my parents decided on for that. I suppose a lot of parents play it by ear and just decide based on the kids' reactions. Like if a kid suddenly says something a little ooky one day...

Yeah, I remember being reasonably comfortable about body stuff when I was really little. One time in particular when I was joking around with my brothers and when I had to go to the bathroom, they just came inside with me and we continued our conversation. But at some point the good ol' Catholic body shame was inculcated. When I went to Denmark as an exchange student of 16, it was my first experience with a co-ed dressing room. I think it took me 40 min. to get up the guts to finally change into my bathing suit. Even though it was clear the Danes didn't give a flying fig.

I sure wish I hadn't gotten the Catholic dosage, though. It takes years to surgically remove those implants.

And, yep, family bathrooms sound like a great idea.

It's the stranger penis that worries me.

I wish it had worried me in college.

I wish it had worried me in college.

I suppose I should have said, "Worries me now."