“But Mom, we can’t stop at the Ladies’ Room now; we’ll be late for the train.”
“No, Jasper. We have twenty minutes before we have to get to the platform. There’s enough time for grandma, your sister and I to make a short stop first.”
“But Mom, I can’t go into the Ladies Room!”
“Of course you can. You’re with us,” she said impatiently.
“Mom, this is so embarrassing. I’m not a little kid; I’m eight years old. I can’t go into a Ladies’ room.”
“Jasper, you’re trying my patience. If your dad were here you’d go into the Men’s room with him. But he’s not here so you’ll have to come with us.”
Now the boy was crying. “You don’t understand. I would die if one of my friends saw me going into the Ladies’ room. It’s not fair.”
“Jasper, if I hear another word from you I’ll smack you. I didn’t have to drag myself into New York to take you kids to a Broadway show. You’d better stop complaining.”
“I don’t even want to go to the stupid show.”
The line to the Ladies’ room moved quickly and it was time for the party of mother, grandmother, son and daughter to claim a stall.
“I’m not going in there with you!”
“Then stand right there, where I could see your feet from under the door,” said mother. “Right there!”she screeched.
So I wondered. The mother had a point. She could not in good conscience, allow an eight year old boy go unaccompanied into the huge men’s room of New York City’s Pennsylvania Station’s restroom. But was there a better way of handling the situation to avoid the ugly scene her family was creating in the equally huge Ladies’ room of same train station?
On one hand she didn’t want to frighten the child by telling him about the perverts that can hang around large, anonymous venues, or how a young child could easily fall prey to sick minds. On the other hand the child had to obey his mother’s guidance in certain situations.
I welcome you, my smart blogging friends, to intervene in this situation. What would be a better way to handle this problem?
MorristownMemos 
Comments on: "BOY WAITING FOR A TRAIN" (15)
PS meant to add so I can see why he resisted going to the ladies.. xxx
Yes, let’s give the young folk a chance to be heard…
🙂 ❤
That is a hard one.. I have sent my young Son into a mens loo with me standing by the door and telling him not to speak to anyone and come straight out.. But 8 yr olds are far more mature for the ages these days than 30 odd years ago when my son was a boy..
Wishing you well Ronnie.. Love and Hugs your way xx
You are so right, Sue; still…I’m not sure what I would do in that situation. sometimes it’s not so bad to be old…
I have seen the opposite side, where boys over 6 have come into the women’s bathroom and made some women very nervous. I would think that if you stand by the men’s room and monitor it, with strict instructions to “go fast”, that would be the best option if there isn’t a family restroom.
Family restrooms seem to be a good option, and they’e starting to be seen more often.
Better safe than sorry.
That’s terribly true.
If there was a family restroom option that would have been best. Lots of newer places are doing that. The family in this case didn’t have many other options – sometimes the little ones just need to learn that you can’t die of embarrassment and likely none of his friends were around to see.
Thanks, Andrew; you’re right that none of his friends were around to see him enter the Ladies’ room. But if they were in his situation they too would probably be forced to follow their mothers.
I like the idea of finding a policeman or a lot of rest areas have attendants.
That would be a good solution, Dor. Attendants could make everybody feel more secure.
That’s always a tricky situation. He’s just at that in-between age–old enough to be embarrassed in the ladies’ room, too young for going alone in the men’s (in a place like that, anyway). Happened to me when I was traveling the New York Turnpike with my then 9-year-old son. At one of the rest stops I was really nervous to let him go in the men’s alone, but like this boy, he was mortified to go in the women’s. I ended up letting him go in by himself after explaining he do his business quick and come right out. Then I waited and told myself if he didn’t come out within the expected time, I was going in after him! When he was done, I used the women’s but asked a mother with kids to keep an eye on him outside the bathroom. Worked okay, but they were a stressful few minutes. Nowadays a lot of these places have family bathrooms. That’s the best solution.
I thought of asking a policeman to go in with the boy, but nowadays we don’t know WHO to trust. Thanks for commenting, Carrie.