HOUSTON – A north Houston mother said she was in disbelief after a Walmart employee told her that her 9-year-old son was too old to go into the women's restroom with her.
"I was very upset because you hear so many news stories of children being targeted, the first thing everybody asks is, 'Where was mom? Where was the dad? Why were they allowed by themselves?'" Claudia Munguia said
Munguia said she and her son were shopping at the WalMart at 13003 Tomball Parkway Sunday afternoon when they had to make a quick trip to the bathroom.
"While we were shopping, we both needed to go to the restroom and we walked to the nearest restroom and found that the family restroom was locked with no one inside inside and no employee in sight to open it," Munguia said.
She said she brought her son into the women's restroom, then used separate stalls and she told her son to wait outside her stall when he was finished.
“As I’m talking to him I’m, like, 'Hey are you still there?' I hear a voice say ‘Yes he’s here, but he shouldn’t be.' I say, 'Excuse me? He’s my 9-year-old-son, he’s with his mom,'" Manguia recounted of the situation.
A North Houston mom says she was shocked when a Wal-Mart employee said her 9-year-old son was too old to be in the women's restroom with her. The mom says the family restroom was locked and she did not see an employee close by. Claudia, the mom, says she would understand the criticism if her son was a teenager, but she didn't feel comfortable sending her 9-year-old into a public bathroom alone. What are your thoughts? KPRC2 / Click2Houston
Posted by KPRC2 Sophia Beausoleil on Monday, December 11, 2017
Manguia said she explained how the family restroom was locked and since her husband was not shopping with them, and how she didn't feel comfortable sending her son into the men's restroom by himself.
“I said, 'You know, I’m not sending my 9-year-old son into the restroom by himself.' And then she accused me of traumatizing him because he was there with me. I told her that he was my son and that I was going to decide what was best for him and she did not need to tell me that. She then told me it was a Walmart rule that he could not be in the restroom with me," Manguia said.
KPRC Channel 2 News reached out to Walmart to see if they do have a bathroom policy.
“She wanted us to leave, called security through her earpiece. At that point I turned and looked at my son. He's scared to death and he’s on the verge of crying so I decided what was best for him was for me to remove ourselves from this situation," Manguia said.
The mother of two said she feared even if she waited outside the men's bathroom for her son, someone would either attack her child or flash him.
She said she knows people have their own opinions. Manguia said this is what works for her 9-year-old son and 4-year-old son until they're a little bit older to go the restroom by themselves.
“I don’t expect everyone to agree with me but this is my son’s safety. That’s my main concern and that will always be number one in my book," Manguia said.