toilets

Japan has the most elaborate toilets out there. The one in our house washes and dries- your choice front or back. In public there is still the choice between squat and western (sit down) in some places. Most restaurants in the city have children's size toilets and almost always a child height sink. In the stall of the bathroom they often have a hanging plastic highchair type thing attached to the wall to put your baby in while you pee. This is ingenious!! How many times have us mothers out there had to pee when we had an infant? This was one of the most shocking realizations for me the first time I was out in public alone with my new infant. Trying to pull down your pants with one hand while hanging on to your baby with the other- it seemed so absurd! If half the population is female and most have babies, how can this be??? For a country with such limited space they seem to make comfort for moms and children a priority. I have not one time had to lift a child to wash their hands since we got here! amen to that.