Open door policy

I'm not claustrophobic.  In fact, although I'd rather not be in a small confined space (who does?), it doesn't freak me out.  And I can ride in elevators with no problem, even full ones.

But I can not use the bathroom with the door closed. 

Part of the reason is most of the bathrooms I've had were fairly small, and they get all steamy and humid after a shower.  

Another reason was, after having my first daughter, leaving the door opened allowed me to hear what she was up to.

Which also lead to me always having a kid follow me into the bathroom.  When they were toddlers I didn't mind.  This was, after all, the perfect opportunity to teach them all about using the potty. 

But I think it began to become something that was "normal" to my kids.  As they got older, my "open door policy" started to come back and bite me in the ass.

I can't even begin to tell you how many times I was in there and a kid just walked in.  

"Hey Mom! Do you know whe.....Ugggg!  I'll ask you when you're done."

I can't really blame them.  They were taught that my door is always open, and an open door is an open invitation to enter.

Which has caused us to have some "oops!" moments where they're usually way more embarrassed then me.

Now that they're much older, they've learned to ask if I'm using the bathroom, or doing my hair.

It's saved them from those embarrassing moments.

And now, when I need to escape, I go in and close the door.

I've heard that's what many mom's do.

It just took me until my kids hit their pre-teens for me to catch on!