Urinals

Let’s talk urinals.

Parents this task is all yours . If your son has not used a urinal , perhaps knowing how to use one is a good idea before starting at “ the big school’. At my school , there are 2 different kinds of urinals  , the wall troughs and the  ones that look like a bird bath ( shown) , a white porcelain bowl that is 2/3 of the way down the wall, not as common apparently ….  Not all kids know how urinals  work….

Funny story – One year, a  boy was taking a long time in the bathroom and when  I checked on him and shouted in he said that he could not find paper and the toilet would not flush . With out being able to go into the bathroom, I figured out, he had pooped in the urinal . To him it looked like a toilet- it was white , porcelain and had a flush handle. It looked like a toilet to him so he backed in and took care of business. Sure there were no doors  but then again often in preschool there are many ‘potties’ all together and lack of privacy is not unusual.

So suggestion #1 – parents make sure your boy knows something about urinals. 

It is also important to remind your boy is that it is not appropriate to  take his pants down to his ankles to use the urinal . Sometimes older students ( 1st and 2nd graders)  share bathrooms so bare ‘cheeks’ greeting the older students is often too much and can be embarrassing .

Getting boys to aim accurately , well that is the ultimate goal .

Flushing and hand washing of course are often the forgotten steps so your help creating these habits is appreciated too.

Suggestion #2  If  your boy prefers to use the stalls or needs to use the stall at some point, and they probably will, you may want to read the post about toilets.