People are such spazzes sometimes

Danalana wrote: Yesterday, i was in the restroom at work, and this woman comes in with her child. The whole time, she is screaming "DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!!!!!"....we actually have a VERY clean bathroom. I mean, the whole time, she's screaming. I could understand if there weren't sinks where you can wash your hands. Isn't that what they're for? I don't know why it made me mad, but it did. I'm thinking, "Way to cause future OCD lady!" I probably don't think enough about it, but I haven't developed a debilitating disease yet.

coasterqueen replied: Ok, I'm going to be honest here - I do the same thing as that woman. I don't yell it, but I will say it if I see Kylie touching anything - Megan especially because she gets into EVERYTHING. Maybe it will cause OCD, who knows. It could explain why Megan can't ever have her hands dirty even for a second. Kylie, on the other hand, could care less how dirty she is.

Kaitlin'smom replied: well I dont scream it but in public places I tell Kait (in a low voice) dont touch anything, unless you have to.

maybe you could have screamed back stop touching me lady, in a silly voice, kinda make the lady feel crazy......

Danalana replied: My idea is that it's kinda hard to go to the bathroom and touch nothing. I can understand if the kids are digging through trash and feminine hygiene stuff, but that's not the case. I don't know, maybe it's normal...it just didn't seem like it. It sounded as though the world would end if they touched ANYTHING. *shrug*

grapfruit replied:
Or fake cry and tell her "sobbingly" I'm sorry!!! I won't touch anything anymore!

Danalana replied:
I will do that if it happens again!

Kentuckychick replied: LOL, once when my older brother was 3 or 4 my grandfather took him to a movie and they went to the restroom he said the second he opened the door Daniel stopped dead and loudly yelled "GRANDADDY! DON'T TOUCH A THING!!! THIS PLACE IS DEESGUSTING!!" He said everyone in the bathroom burst into laughter.

Oh the things we teach our children.
Though honestly I'd rather have an OCD child then one who touched things in public restrooms

grapfruit replied: I'm very OCD in bathrooms (public ones). But I just don't touch anything AFTER I was my hands. And if it's clean I really don't worry as much.

Kaitlin'smom replied:
thats good to

so just take it to far I think with the 'dont touch anything' and some kids really need it.

Crystalina replied: I do the same thing but only in public restrooms and water fountains. They are NEVER to use a fountain unless I help them and only if they are really thirsty (like at the park but I usually bring water). Most of the times they just want to use it because it's there. I can see where you are coming from thinking it may cause future OCD but I would think that that would only happen if you were a freak about everything. At home I don't care, at peoples houses I don't care and yes I always have hand sanitizer but I don't make a huge issue when applying it like, "Eww, lets get rid of those nasty germs!". My kids don't even think about it ( I don't think).

Public restrooms and water fountains though...yuck. I've seen some nasty things in there and some hygenically challenged people leaving the stalls. I don't want to bring home anything or let my kids touch anything. Little hands are always touching things.

Just you wait. You'll know what I'm talking about Little Mama.

Danalana replied: Ooooh, not me (I'm saying this in response to preferring a child who has OCD over a child who touches things. I wouldn't want them touching obviously nasty stuff, no. And we would wash our hands). They have sinks and water to wash your hands in!
I think it doesn't bother so much because I lived in Mexico for 6 months...i'm talking places with no plumbing, etc....it caused me to just get over any restroom paranoia I might have had.

Danalana replied:
Well, i can understand freaking if the bathroom is really dirty. But that bathroom is cleaned all the time. People actually get annoyed at how often it's cleaned. maybe that's why I don't understand.

indywndy_04 replied: I used to tell my son not to touch stuff...but I would not yell it...but Brody would touch the toilet seat and the trash cans and sit on the floor...ewwww. I would feel like I needed to wash his whole body in the sink. I am like...good grief kid...cant you just come in and use the bathroom with out wallering?


***edited*** Wallering definition - that would be a redneck term for getting into stuff... LOL

Danalana replied:
Hehe, I would be concerned if the child was wallering, TFS

indywndy_04 replied:
HHAA I love you Dana - I knew you would get that!!

grapfruit replied:
Sorry I envisioned you scrubbing them down from head to toe w/sanitizer and saying that like you were talking to a cute little puppy. In that "oh you just a cute wittle puppy aren't you" voice.

Kentuckychick replied:
Lol, I was, of course just kidding!

I don't really want an OCD child
I would prefer one that came equipped without the "non-handwashing attitude" that all kids somehow seem to develop at some point in their lives.
I just don't want them touching things that have no business being touched. And I will be teaching them to open doors with paper towels

Danalana replied:
Of course! you can count on me!

lovemy2 replied: Have to say I am a DON"T TOUCH ANYTHING in a public restroom freak - BUT that being said I don't scream it and do realize that SOMETHING has to be touched or Olivia would end up in the drink

Danalana replied: Yes, I would think falling into the commode would be a little more disturbing than inadvertently touching something along the way.

moped replied:
I am like that too Karen - I won't let jack touch a thing!!!!!!! Sorry, but bathrooms are nasty and walmart bathrooms here can be nasty too

Danalana replied: Haha, Jen, I knew that was going to be your response.
And I agree about a LOT of Wal-Mart bathrooms. I'm telling you, though, ours is really clean. Nothing on the floor and no nastiness

moped replied: I believe you totally, but the walmart bathroom I puked in the other day was gross! Jack wasn't with me thank god!

Danalana replied: The wal-mart I transferred from was terrible...NASTY bathroom. I think that's why I was so surprised that this one is so great. That is, if you can get in when it's not being cleaned

Mommy2Isabella replied: OK ... I am a FREAK!!

I don't talk about not touching stuff, because I REFUSE to use a public restroom ... the thought of it disturbs me! HAHA, I would rather take Bella to the dressing room to change her.

I have a pad that I lay down to change her on, and I wash it like 2 times a week if not more. I am a purell FREAK. My dad yelled at me yesterday for using it so much ... hahahahaha

coasterqueen replied:
You wait til she's using the potty and not in diapers - your stance on not using public restrooms will change quickly. I've never ever used a public restroom as much as I've had to with kids. It's insane the number of times they have to go to the bathroom in just one trip to town.

Mommy2Isabella replied: I will be the mom that carries around a portable toilet seat and my own soap and paper towels ... YUCK YUCK YUCK!!

Danalana replied: I agree! I can see her telling Bella to wait til they get home...she won't be having that. They're not much into holding it!

Mommy2Isabella replied: GROSS... I so would too ... dangit ...

Im serious I will have one of those portable fold up potty seats haha ... and my own soap and my own paper towels ... I can't imagine touching the soap dispenser in a public restroom ... do they feel all greasy ...

I know many a times when I was PG with bella I would be SOOO CLOSE to peeing my pants and still refused to use the public restroom... haha ... I would be screaming the whole way home becasue I had to pee so bad ...

Danalana replied: Wow....I don't even know what to say

Mommy2Isabella replied: ah ha ... found my perfect portable potty seat ...

http://www.greatbabyproducts.com/Folding_C...p/prim-521w.htm

coasterqueen replied:
Ok, BUT I guaranty you'll be telling them not to touch anything in there. You would be amazed at how kids want to touch everything. My kids think it's neat to sit on the bathroom floor. Drives me insane every time we go to a public restroom.

lovemy2 replied:
So tell us Jen where else in Calgary have you tossed your cookies?????? And how often has Jack been with you? Poor little guy is going to end up in therapy

lovemy2 replied:
Had that one and yes it is great but then you have to put the potty seat into a baggie or something to carry it and then the germs from the bottom of the seat are in the baggie, etc. etc. etc. it goes on and on - sooner or later you do what you can to minimize the damage and then you scrub the you know what out of them before you leave

Boo&BugsMom replied:
Wal-marts are the WORST!!! I am always telling Tanner to not touch anything, because if I didn't, he'd touch EVERYTHING! This is the child who tried to eat a piece of used kitty liter clump as a toddler. I don't take any chances!

amynicole21 replied: Ummmm, was it me you heard?? LOL! If I ever actually stepped foot inside a Walmart, I would have been screaming the same thing. LOL!

j/k of course, but we do teach the girls to use elbows and wads of toilet paper to touch ANYTHING in a public restroom.

alice&arik replied: I ALWAYS tell Arik not to touch anything! He used to go in the bathroom and he would touch the floor, the sinks, and everything. When he would pee he would let his pee-pee touch the rim which was really gross. I started putting the paper down so he couldn't touch it. Now he is taller and understands there are germs. He won't go in a bathroom if it is really gross looking. We even sanitize our hands after we leave the bathroom. I work in healthcare so I am paranoid and I know that not everyone washes their hands.

jcc64 replied: I'm a "Don't touch anything" kind of mom, too. Bear in mind I am in no way a neat freak, but you absolutely CANNOT tell how clean a rest room is by looking at it. All it takes is one person who, um, is not a.... neat wiper.... who then touches the doorknob, and then, well, you do the math. Kids have immature immune systems- why take the risk?
You will most likely change your tune once the kids come along, trust me. I probably thought people like me were neurotic idiots before I had kids.....

alice&arik replied: Also, I use a paper towel to open the door, or my elbow if I have to. It makes you wonder how often things are really cleaned, like ATM buttons, door handles, etc, that you would never think of. And then think about what guy just held his **** in the bathroom and didn't wash, then he picked his nose and used the ATM. How does that taste, yum! I think way too far into stuf like that. I won't use a public bathroom unless I have to. Arik has even told me he will wait til he gets home now.

alice&arik replied:
We were thinking the same!

Danalana replied: I want to clarify that I'm not going to let my kids touch everything in a bathroom. I'm not going to let them sit in the floor or rummage through garbage. And their hands WILL be washed. The lady I am referring to was making it sound like the kid would go to Hell if they touched anything...that was what made me crazy. I'm gonna tell my kids not to touch stuff, but I'm not gonna make it seem as though the sky is falling down if they do.

Mommy2Isabella replied: I wasn't saying that the potty seat would make it ok. GOODNESS NO, it will make it 1% bearable to use the restroom, I will have my own soap and everything ... yuck just thinking about it is grossing me out! hahah

How bad is that !

moped replied:
Well yes Jack is a strong boy I tell ya - and how do you know he isn't already in therapy!!!!!! J/K

Well lets see, we have these above ground walkways all through the downtown - those have been polluted by me a few times.

Walmart the other day

Grocery Stores - a few times! Going by that meat is nasty!

My poor MIL house!

In my under the desk garbage at work

In the car - I always carry bags in my car now

That is all I can think of.

Most times Jack isn't with me because I am on my way to work or something!

redplaydoh replied:

Are there really people out there that don't know the term wallering??? I use it all the time, maybe it's a leftover term I can't get rid of from growing up in Oklahoma.

punkeemunkee'smom replied: I didn't realize you were in Texas-sorry I disturbed your potty break! I don't yell it actually but I have said it many times before Public bathrooms are DISGUSTING bacteria laden petridishes!!!! Everyone doesn't wash their hands and that in itself is enough to make my skin crawl...If you figure that in a women's restroom 1/4 on average of the women who use it are menstrating you have to figure that even if your kids are NOT digging through the trash they are probably being exposed to blood. It is just a fact that sometimes there is blood left on the seat, that will in turn be transfered to the door handles,sink handles and many other surfaces. I know you can wash your hands but if there is a sink you have to touch to turn on you turn it on with dirty hands,wash your hands with soap and then turn it off with your clean hands but the handle is still dirty from you and the 5,000 other people who touched it since the last time it had more than a cursory shine and since MANY illnesses can and do survive outside your body on porus material for days and sometimes weeks (that fact was pointed out to me by Tay's immunoligist when we were dealing with a family member that was HepB pos. and was the final straw when we cut all ties) a little paranoia is acceptable and really even understandable. Now she shouldn't have been yelling but that to me has more to do with the fact that it irritates me when people yell in public than the reason she was doing so

My3LilMonkeys replied: Well I guess I'm the oddball here....my kids touch stuff in the restroom and I don't care. I don't let them play in the garbage or anything, but sitting on the floor - as long as there's no puddles or anything, go ahead and sit there! We do wash our hands though.

You'll hear me saying don't touch anything non stop through the rest of the store though, as Madison touches EVERYTHING she can reach.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: I have to admit, I'm like that woman. My kids have this habit of putting their hands on the seat to steady themselves... and need to touch EVERYTHING. Good god, I don't think I've ever taken two kids in the public bathroom anywhere at the same time. Just because I don't have enough hands to keep their hands off everything.

Not that I don't think bathrooms aren't cleaned... I know they are... but ewwww just the same.

ETA - I agree Dana, maybe she shouldn't have freaked about it, maybe yelled a little less obviously... lol

C&K*s Mommie replied: I do not yell, rather I give simple reminders to not touch anything pre or post washing hands.

Butts, elbows, feet, paper towels and toilet paper need to be used in leiu of hands.

grapfruit replied:
Oh you poor poor pregnant lady! Jen I'd be at my doctor's door begging for help. Is there anything they can give you???? If they don't want to puke on them.

grapfruit replied:
Cyndi hates letting me take Megan to the bathroom for these reason. I'm a freak!!

Here's my routine:
Once I'm finished pottying (which means I've put at least two layers of toilet paper on the seat) I roll out enough paper towel where it doesn't touch the sink or anything, but it's long enough to use. I wash my hands (I sing a verse of Old McDonald to know I've washed long enough, I sing in my head BTW), and then use the paper towel to turn off the water and operate the dispenser to get enough towel out to dry my hands, and then use that to open the door. I'll walk around until I find a trash can on the out side if necessary. Once I've put soap on my hands that's it, no more touching!!!

I even try not to touch regular public doors in places I think other people do. If I can open w/my foot, shoulder, ect then I do.

redchief replied: This is one of the funniest threads I've ever seen.

I have:

- Worked in many of the dirty restrooms you are describing, repairing and replacing toilets and such.
- I've cleared a sewer and toilets in a crowded bar with women standing up to the tops of their heels in overflow, and all they did was complain that I was taking up a stall.
- Eaten lunch in open sewer ditches... often.
- Cleared more than 1,000 clogged sewer lines in my lifetime (many more).
- Been literally up to my belly button in human excrement and waste.
- Had a poop shower. (If you really want to know, I'll tell you).

I'm still alive and look pretty normal for a Neanderthal. In fact, due to my blood type and high iron counts I'm a favorite target of the Red Cross. My blood has been all over the Northeastern US. Mwahahahaha!

grapfruit replied:
This is why I'm glad Tim is not a plumber. Yucky!

CantWait replied: Well I admit, I do the same thing. The first thing I do when I'm in the bathroom with Anthony is tell him NOT to touch anything. Don't touch the toilet, the sinks, the walls, the doors, the trash, nothing. I don't care how clean a bathroom APPEARS to be, it's a bathroom and there ARE germs floating around everywhere.
Anthony even knows to grab a papertowel to open the bathroom door, because unfortunetly, not everyone washes their hands after using the restroom.

CantWait replied:
You may think it's clean, but honestly, if someone doesn't wash their hands and then they touch something, how are you to know???? Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not there. At the rate which germs multiply, it only takes a second before a bathroom or object is completely contaminated.

CantWait replied:
I actually had this potty seat specifically for trips outside the house. I don't see nothing wrong with it, just thought it was normal. I didn't use it because I was afraid of germs, but rather cause it was easier then holding them over the seat, especially when you have bags etc.

CantWait replied:
I'm sorry, but that's GROSS. I watched a documentary about women that put their purses on the floor when they pee, and the amount of bacteria that was on that after was staggering. Just think of all that on your children's clothing.

Danalana replied: Yeah, but think about this...there are germs EVERYWHERE. Hotel rooms are some of the worst places for bacteria there are, but we go there without thinking about it. The thing with me is that I tend to go to extremes when I get into something. If I were to really freak like that woman thinking about it, it would probably get to the point that I couldn't even leave my house for fear of germs. i'd most likely spend my days washing my hands incessantly, starving to death because I was worried about what is in our food, etc...yeah, that's the kind of person I am. That's why I can't obsess about it. Please don't take this to mean that I won't keep my baby clean and do my best to keep him/her away from nasty stuff....but it's really hard to escape it. And then there's SCHOOL! There's all kinds of germs at school, but they probably have to go. Gah, I'd go crazy if I started really thinking about it.

My3LilMonkeys replied:
What doesn't kill us only makes us stronger, right? What can I say....it's just not something that I worry about. There's bacteria and other icky stuff everywhere....everyone gets exposed to it every day. Grocery carts have 3 times the amount of bacteria found on a public bathroom doorknob....I'm sure everyone who has posted here doesn't use paper towels to push their carts around all the time.

Mommy2BAK replied: Umm yea, that most likely could've been me in that stall next to you. I am always very adament and have to repeat myself over and over and over "Don't touch anything Blakely"... she wants to touch the toilet paper, flush the potty, open the stall doors, pretty much everything. I'm sure you will be somewhat of a spazz once you have to take a small child into a public restroom as well.

punkeemunkee'smom replied:
I don't push them with paper towels but I do wipe them down....especially in flu season. As a matter of fact most of the time I get a cart that is in the sun (parking lot) and then I spray viro free (an operating room spray) on the handles and the side bars if Tay is going to sit in there. I don't so it as often as I used to since she is getting older and her immune system is stronger but I did it EVERYTIME we went when she was little. We also stay away from playrooms (think Chucky cheese) in the flu season and right now in one particular town close to us because they have been having a staph outbreak that is BAAAAADDDDDDDDD!!!!! I know that germs are everywhere and it is inevitable that you will contact some nasty little viruses now and then BUT I do all I can to limit that. I mean it wouldn't be the common cold IF people who had it would stay home when they did Since most people don't apply common sense (hand washing,stay home if you are puking,snotty,sick,etc) then I will apply it for them.

ihave4kids replied: I do the same thing-but only in stores. Oh and I don't yell either

C&K*s Mommie replied:

Personally, I am not claiming to be a germaphobe in the least, but since public restrooms are the closest and most immediate exposure to common body fluids, I take precautions with it. I cannot wait my time thinking of how to avoid ALL viruses, and bacteria-- I know that some are beneficial to the human body- but I want to teach my girls to use sense when going into common public areas, and not to take back out into the general population what someone left behind when they did not wash their hands.

gr33n3y3z replied:
I never sit on a toilet

but other then that thats about what I do like Casey does

gr33n3y3z replied:
Our WalMart just opened give it a month and it will be nasty LOL

luvbug00 replied: I just use the seat covers when i can and wash after every visit to the public restroom and purell. that's all i can do

Danalana replied:
you're probably right...most wal-mart bathrooms are nasty. People genuinely do not care. I wonder if they throw toilet paper on the floor and stuff like that at their houses...

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
I couldn't agree more. We do wash hands, and I do try to keep andrew from touching the garbage and toilets in the public bathrooms, but really there aren't any germs in there that aren't everywhere else too. I'm careful, but if he touches something I don't freak out. He's a kid... he's going to touch stuff.

Danalana replied: Yes. That sounded like me, except for the Andrew part

gr33n3y3z replied:
yeah it does make you wonder
ppl. are just out right pigs when they use public bathrooms in general

holley79 replied: I tel lAnnika not to touch anything also just because I am so paranoid about staph. It's already hereditary but with everything that has gone on with me this year I would just as soon not have either of us on antibiotics anymore.

holley79 replied:
Ed this is why we love you. You just bring to light all the what could bes.

Mommy2Isabella replied: I don't push the cart around with a paper towel, but I do have a cart cover. I WILL not put bella in a cart ... yuck. I try not to put her in highchairs unless I have a cover either.

I am a FREAK I know. LOL My dad makes fun of me almost everyday, I even wipe down the highchair at his house, before I put bella in it.

Also, if she isn't with me when i go to the store, I have purell in my purse and when i am done shopping I will purell my hands once I am done with the cart. HAHAH .. you can all point and laugh ... im ok with it! I am comfortable in my germaphobeness

boyohboyohboy replied:
This is me! i am a freak about germs....
we have a foldable toilet seat that we carry, and it fits into a zip lock bag that once used we throw away, at home, and its so easy to disinfect...i do tell caleb when we walk into the br dont touch anything!
but he is good about it,
i may have raised ocd kids too!

gr33n3y3z replied:
LoL hun thats why I love ya so much GERMS & ALL

moped replied: I have one thing to say - my cousin's daughter ended up with cold sores at 2 from shopping carts - FYI - they are nasty too!

tammyhopkins replied: Yes i carry Wet Ones wherever i go and wipe down the carts. Bathrooms try to avoid it i ave this germ thing and i HATEpublic washrooms. when i worked outside my house i NEVER used the washroom at work i would drive home

jcc64 replied: The things I fear are ecoli, staph, and MRSA infections. These are a direct result of the over prescription and/or abuse of antibiotics, as well as unsanitary conditions in our food supply and healthcare institutions. Unfortunately, these drug resistent strains are now making their way out into the general population and into a bathroom or shopping cart near you. I do not fear the common cold, or flu, or any of the "normal" stuff that gets passed around.

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
Ok, that's scary. I don't have enough arms to wrestle with a toddler, infant seat, and a cart cover, but I think I'll start carrying some disinfecting wipes in the diaper bag for the carts.

gr33n3y3z replied:
C Diff is also a huge problem in healthcare institutions including hospital nurseries

redchief replied:
Don't get me wrong, because I"m sure any number of yucky organisms live and host hop on shopping carts, picnic tables, toilet seats and any number of other public places, but who in the world told you that cold sores came from a shopping cart?

Herpes simplex (the virus that causes cold sores) is EVERYWHERE. Ascribing the virus transmission to a single stop in a shopping cart basket is absurd. Add to that the fact that herpes simplex v-1 (the most common orofacial herpes virus) is nearly always passed directly from living host to living host (as opposed to indirect passage which includes shopping cart transmission). It is believed that cold sores occur in anywhere from 20% to 50% of the population. Once you have it, even though there may be no outbreak, you have it for life. Most people are not contagious unless they have active sores, but the virus never goes away.

There are eight known herpes viruses. The next most common herpes virus is chicken pox (varicella which also causes shingles) in humans. If you think you've had chicken pox so you can't get them again, you're wrong. The same virus that gave you chicken pox as a child can give you shingles fifty years later... it's still there and alive. There are different herpes viruses for nearly all of the earth's animal groups.

msoulz replied: Once again the media has promoted paranioa regarding germs. I keep thinking the next thing they are going to test are butt wipe containers and they will find that they are horrible and we will have to find some other way of dispensing butt wipes.

JMHO