"As a girl dad, I can't help but want to protect my daughters from all things that aren't for them and the men's bathroom is 100% one of those things."
We're now in a place where men and women share roles when it comes to chores and just family, in general, and dad Muhammed Nitoto is no exception. As a father, he has had to change diapers for both his daughters, Zendaya and Zuri, and it was never a problem for him until he was in a place where he had to choose between the men's and the women's bathroom to do so.
Here's the thing, out of instinct, the man first chose to take his girls to the men's restroom, but he decided that it would be the first and last time he would do that. The father took to social media to share a brutally honest post on why he chose to take his daughters to the ladies' loo instead of the men's.
"I TAKE MY DAUGHTER TO THE GIRLS BATHROOM," the man started off his post.
"As a dad being out with daughters I never thought the bathroom would become as big an issue as it is," he wrote. "Usually, we would go places and they have FAMILY bathroom which is meant for people with children but what I found was most places don't have them and Dads are left to decide between taking their daughters to the men's bathroom or the women's."
At first, when the father had to choose, he followed his instinct. "Now when [I was] first hit with this choice I did what most men would do which is, I went to the Men's bathroom."
But, here's where he decided never to go that again! "Now I've been to a men's bathroom millions of times but walking in with your daughter makes you look at it completely different. Men's bathrooms are DISGUSTING. They smell like pee and nothing is set up for a woman or a person with a child. The changing table was right next to the urinal which means my child literally would be next to where men pee which she's being charged."
Apart from that, there are men coming in and going out, leaving the family with no privacy. That one time was enough for Nitoto to decide he'd never go back into a men's toilet again.
"After doing that 1 time I decided I'd never take my daughters to the men's bathroom again. I use the women's bathroom when I'm out with them. They are too young to go on their own so I have to go in with them."
However, he understands that not all women will be okay with the fact that there is a man inside their space, so Nitoto makes sure to always check with the women inside to see if they are comfortable with him stepping in to change his daughters' diapers. "I try to be as respectful to women as I can while doing so which consists of knocking on the door before entering and announcing myself."
"Now once inside our stall, I still am aware of the door, and whenever I hear it open and someone new is coming in I announce myself again and make sure they know I'm inside with my child so that they aren't surprised."
What's the one thing that surprised Nitoto from switching bathrooms? "Women's bathrooms are so much cleaner and set up perfect just in case they have children. The changing station is usually insure a stall instead of just in the open and it's always clean. As a girl dad, I can't help but want to protect my daughters from all things that aren't for them and the men's bathroom is 100% one of those things."
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