Parenting

Mom’s outrageous toilet training act in public park leaves onlookers furious: ‘Genuinely revolted’

As parents, we’ve all faced moments that test our patience and improvisation skills, especially if we’ve gone through the toilet training stage

A recent story shared in the Eastern Australia Suburbs Moms Group on Facebook has brought to light one such moment, which sparked a range of opinions from commenters.

An anonymous woman took to the page to share a recent incident she witnessed in Bondi Park, where a mom allowed her son to poo on the ground near a busy playground. 

The post read: “So I just witnessed a mother encouraging her son to take a poop inside the Bondi Beach playground. She took off his pants and he walked across the playground naked from the waist down before stopping under a tree and squatting down to poop. The child was perhaps three to four years old.

“The mother then casually came over and gave him a quick wipe before attempting to pick up the poop with the baby wipe, however, it didn’t look like a clean one and basically left feces smeared all around on the ground,” it continued.

A recent story shared on a Facebook group page has brought to light the toilet training stage, which sparked a range of opinions from commenters. ElenaKyrylova – stock.adobe.com

The poster says she was left shocked and “genuinely revolted” after seeing this, as were other playground-goers.

One other person even tried to speak to the mom but she rolled her eyes and waved them away.

She then admits that while she’s not at the toilet training stage yet herself, she wouldn’t fathom letting her child defecate inside a playground “where other kids are likely to step in it, pick it up or get sick from it.”

The comments mainly echoed the poster’s concerns, as people were quick to condemn the behavior. 

“So I just witnessed a mother encouraging her son to take a poop inside the Bondi Beach playground. She took off his pants and he walked across the playground naked from the waist down before stopping under a tree and squatting down to poop,” the post read. Moduplay

“My vibe on this is what the actual f–k yuck,” one person wrote.

Another said, “Wee and poo in a public playground is not hygienic or okay. I have also seen many boys being encouraged to wee in parks when there is a public toilet right next to it. I don’t think it’s sending a very good message that they should be going in the toilet.”

And a third added, “I’m also not okay with this – I’ve never seen anyone do this before – THANK THE GODS!”

People argued that “context” is important

However, other parents wanted to give the mom the benefit of the doubt. 

“There’s a lot of judgment on this post. We really have no idea why this happened or what was going on in this mom’s life. Jeez, we all beat ourselves up enough with mom guilt,” wrote one.

The comments mainly echoed the poster’s concerns, as people were quick to condemn the mother’s behavior.  Tomsickova – stock.adobe.com

Then another person emphasized that “context” is everything.

“Initially that sounds bizarre, but who knows the context? Let’s hope there is context because that is revolting. You at least clean it up,” they said. 

And another person concluded, “My initial reaction is that it’s pretty gross, but it reminded me of a similar situation I had where my borderline toilet-trained three-year-old said he needed to poo at a playground but there were no toilets. It crossed my mind to let him go in the bushes, but ultimately I made him go in his pants knowing I had a change of clothes handy.”