Where Are The Family Bathrooms

Writen by Gavin Mannion

I have 2 wonderful little girls, my eldest being 3 and my youngest turning 2 next month. One of my favourite things to do with my kids is to take them shopping over the weekend. I enjoy the time I have with them and it gives my wife a break which is always required as kids can be very hard work.

Potty Training

My eldest is now fully potty trained which is a fantastic thing at home and when we go around to friends and parents places but it became a problem for me personally when going shopping.

The first time I took her shopping after being nearly potty trained I was at Builders Warehouse in Strubens Valley looking for bathroom fittings. Now shopping with little children as you know can be quite an experience and is not the easiest way to shop. So after being at BW for about an hour my daughter turns to me and says she needs a wee. Now anyone who has been through potty training will understand that this little statement does not mean "Can we find a bathroom now?" it means "Run as fast as your little legs will take you because you have about 30 seconds before I explode".

Disabled Bathroom

Which is all well and good at home because I know where the bathrooms are, in BW I luckily knew where the bathrooms where but as I turned the corner and was faced with the little man or little lady sign everything fell apart.... What do I do? Do I take her into the male bathroom where there are urinals and they are generally not so clean. Or do I take her into the female bathroom and get faced with the looks of shock and horror that I would have expected from the women already in there?

Then I saw the disabled bathroom... Great a reprieve from this current disaster. So now I know what to look for, easy enough.

Family Bathroom

The next week I was at Clearwater Mall in Strubens Valley when the same thing happened again. Off I ran to the central toilets looking for the disabled sign and was happily greeted with a Family Bathroom sign.

This room was very nice, it was clean and tidy. It had a changing area for my youngest and two toilets. An adult sized one and a kids one. I was so impressed with this discovery that every time I went shopping after that I ended up at either Builders Warehouse or Clearwater.

Oh-No

Then about 4 weeks ago I was back at Clearwater and now just walking quickly to the Family Bathroom, my daughter has got better at holding now, I turn the corner and the sign is gone? I must have taken a wrong turn so I went back and looked down the next passage... Still nothing.

After walking around for about 5 minutes I decided it was about time to look for the disabled bathroom. This is when that initial terror of a few weeks ago hit again. The disabled bathrooms are situated inside the normal bathrooms.... Now I am standing outside the males and females bathrooms in a packed shopping center with my two daughters and a shopping trolley...

What to do

I had two choices and with the fact that my wife always complains about the cues in the ladies I decided to go into the male bathroom. Stuck in a relatively clean bathroom with my youngest trying to see what all those men are doing at the urinals and my eldest needing to get onto a toilet, which needed cleaning, I ended up jamming the trolley into the cubical whilst wiping the toilet and blocking my youngest eyes.

I was horrified...

Conclusion

I now only take my daughters to places where I know if there is a family bathroom AND a disabled bathroom so for now Clearwater is off my list again . I have emailed them and am waiting for a reply. I will update this article when a reply is received just to let you know what they say.

In this modern world where dads are expected to be a large part of their children's life you would think large shopping centers and family restaurants, don't get me started on SPUR, would cater for parents with different sex kids. As I can only presume moms with 5-8 year old boys have the same problem.

If you know of any good shopping centers in the Randburg - Sandton - Roodepoort area that cater for modern dads please leave me a message so I can try them out.

This being my first venture into Internet writing any feedback would be appreciated.

Well I am very happy to report that Clearwater Mall has responded to my enquiry. The family bathroom is now being repaired and will be functional again this coming weekend the 19th of August 2006.

I wish to thank Clearwater Mall and specifically Elsabe Griesel for the prompt response to my enquiry and am looking forward to taking my daughters back to Clearwater again in the near future.

Cheers, Gavin Mannion

www.mommies.co.za

Gavin Mannion is a software developer by day and a daddy by 24/7. I have no qualifications in regard to being a parent apart from that I am one. I speak from the heart. I generally write my articles for http://www.mommies.co.za a place for South African parents to speak their mind.