Is this "unsanitary?" (PS: (No) thanks for your judgment)

amother

Vermilion

Wed, Oct 04 2017, 9:00 am

Ladies, Let's call a spade a spade. Bathrooms are used for a host of unsanitary activities. If you had used it to chage your Dc's poopy diaper would that have been nore sanitary? Op, obviously this was not ideal, but I think you did the best you could in an uncomfortable situation.

amother

Cobalt

Wed, Oct 04 2017, 9:10 am

Since your dd didn't have lice, I don't think you did anything wrong. I probably wouldn't have made an out loud conversation so others could hear. They don't know what you are doing. For all they know you are trying to comb out glitter from your kids hair that only comes out with a lice comb (true happening).

amother

Orchid

Wed, Oct 04 2017, 9:13 am

I think it was pretty obvious what I was doing but you might be right. Funny you should mention glitter, I actually combed out a few glitters and those were the only things in the hair that made me do a double-take. But they were definitely glitter after all.

MagentaYenta

Wed, Oct 04 2017, 9:16 am

I'll give you props for being a creative problem solver. I have no idea what community you live in, and whether this behavior would be acceptable. I should think that since you chose the venue you did you would be prepared for negative feedback. Most people, in a professional building, don't expect to find a mother on a restroom floor checking their child for lice.

SixOfWands

Wed, Oct 04 2017, 9:28 am

amother wrote:

Fortuitously, her DD didn't have lice. But she was checking because she thought her DD MIGHT have lice. How would you have felt if you were washing your hands next to her and she'd said "GOT ONE!" and threw lice into the sink?

amother

Orchid

Wed, Oct 04 2017, 9:29 am

causemommysaid wrote:

I would have french braided my kids hair and sent her to school.

I don't get all the hysteria. Check her later.

This was after school. There was no school the next day. There was going away to sleep in someone else's house with someone else's bedding the next day.

SixOfWands

Wed, Oct 04 2017, 9:36 am

amother wrote:

This was after school. There was no school the next day. There was going away to sleep in someone else's house with someone else's bedding the next day.

Right. And she didn't want to change her plans so she could spend 20 minutes at home checking. And didn't want to risk infecting someone she knew. So she did it in public, risking infecting a bunch of strangers.

MagentaYenta

Wed, Oct 04 2017, 9:42 am

Personal hygiene is just that personal. I'm wondering how the OP would have reacted had she gone into the restroom and found a homeless woman taking a sink bath?

Just something to think about.

amother

Orchid

Wed, Oct 04 2017, 9:44 am

SixOfWands wrote:

In what way does this risk infecting strangers? Having the child play with other kids in the therapist's carpeted, couched waiting room is a risk. Combing her on a hard surface in an isolated area that is cleaned frequently may be awkward and I guess could conceptually gross someone out but I fail to see how it is an unsanitary infection risk. Cooties don't jump across a tiled floor and burrow in your shoes to infect you when you get home.

It's not like I went out to dinner and didn't want to change my plans. I could technically have cancelled the appointment on a half-hour's notice with no chance to compensate due to upcoming holiday.

mommy3b2c

Wed, Oct 04 2017, 9:46 am

SixOfWands wrote:

You are being over the top. If she would have found lice she would have left immediately. She was just checking. While I can't understand her hysteria, (there was no reason to assume her kid had lice, checking was just a precaution) she really didn't do anything unsanitary. Perhaps a bit odd, but not unsanitary. And the other person was just plain rude.

SixOfWands

Wed, Oct 04 2017, 9:50 am

mommy3b2c wrote:

Really?

You really think that if she had seen bugs in her daughter's hair, she would have left them there?

This plain old isn't something that one should be doing on a public place.

MagentaYenta

Wed, Oct 04 2017, 9:51 am

mommy3b2c wrote:

And you know this because???? What would she have done with the louse? Put it in her purse?

MrsDash

Wed, Oct 04 2017, 10:13 am

Are people seriously making a big deal over this? You checked your kid for bugs in a bathroom! It’s not like you were in a lounge or restaurant. OP- whoever posted that signage went WAY overboard. You were in the right.

MrsDash

Wed, Oct 04 2017, 10:18 am

Had she found bugs? Who cares? It’s not like it was some upscale, bidet, gold plated toilet seats. It’s called a tissue, which I’m sure most bathrooms have (even the bidet ones!).

Fox

Wed, Oct 04 2017, 10:30 am

amother wrote:

Ladies, Let's call a spade a spade. Bathrooms are used for a host of unsanitary activities.

Precisely my thought. Of all the activities that I've observed or imagined taking place in public restrooms, this is one of the more benign.

In fact, it strikes me that anyone who eats in a restaurant exposes him/herself to greater actual risk than witnessing someone checking a child's hair.

I think the passive-aggressive sign poster should avoid problems like this in the future by never, ever using a public restroom. If that is not feasible, she should remain cloistered at home, where she can control the standards of hygiene.

dancingqueen

Wed, Oct 04 2017, 10:47 am

Sorry but I do find this scenario gross as well. What would you have done if you found bugs? A stall would at least have afforded you some privacy.