I(18m) live in a one bathroom household with my family and they all have a bad habit of opening the bathroom door even though someone is clearly using it. It’s gotten to the point where ive been avoiding using it during times when my family is getting ready to go somewhere (school,work,etc) because EVERYONE uses it to get ready. They also have a weird logic that because we’re family, walking in or getting walked in on is no big deal but im the only one who doesn’t agree with this in my house, so i lock the door but since its an older house, the knob will lock but its not locked into the frame, so when im using the bathroom, good chance they just fidget with the door handle then pop the door open like im not sitting on the toilet which pisses me off. The other day, i broke my self made rule and used the bathroom while my family was getting ready but i didn’t feel like getting walked in on so i grabbed a folding chair and propped the door shut so i could 5 minutes of not getting barged in on and to my surprise not even 30 seconds later, my mom is banging on the door because she forgot her lashes on the bathroom counter and couldn’t open the door because of the chair. After i got out a couple minutes later she got pissed at me because i was making her late for work(we live 3 minutes away from her job and getting scolded probably was just as long as i was in the bathroom) but i was too tired to even try explain my reasoning.
TLDR; i used a chair so i didn’t get walked in on shitting and my family is mad i locked the door
EDIT; i appreciate the comments and support but i want to clarify, my family doesn’t have an obsession with watching eachother do their business, they’re just desensitized to it
nta. this is very basic privacy. if you share a bathroom, it is common sense that if you forget stuff in there that you need you will need to wait for whoever is in there to finish, and if that makes you late it is your own fault.
Easily NTA. Do something really weird + freaky one time in there and let them walk in, bet they’ll stop.
Totally NTA what bad manners to not respect your privacy. Doesn’t your family know that you can’t just barge into a bathroom? Always knock before you enter.
NTA Your family is … weird. Very weird. Bathroom privacy is probably the most fundamental forms of household privacy. Having an open-door policy is fine if both parties agree, but in this case, you do not.
You don’t need a chair. You can use a rubber wedge and jam it under the door. Amazon also sells portable locks that will let you lock the door and allow you to pee in peace.
Your family will just have to get used to the terrible inconvenience of having to wait 30 seconds.
TELL your parents that the obsession with walking in on you using the toilet makes you feel VERY unsafe and that you’ve talked with your school counsellor about it and that the counsellor found it concerning as well and told you to talk to your parents and if it happens again to come and talk to her so they can look into it.
I do think if you knew your mom had to leave for work in a few minutes you probably should have waited– but it’s still super creepy that they frequently like to watch you on the toilet.
Absolutely NTA, get a door wedge and use it every time you use the bathroom
NTA
Your mother’s failure to pick up her lashes made her late. Not you.
Basic privacy is not one of those negotiable things.. you grow up in a house with one bathroom? You wait for the person in there to come out. There may be some exceptions (like with your parents being in there together) but generally no. Would they walk in on a guest?
Carry on with the chair. Be unrepentant. You’re setting a boundary. They need to learn that walking in on people isn’t just not normal, it’s also rude.
NTA, this is a huge invasion of privacy. Unfortunately, since you’re the only one pushing back, nothing is likely to change. Hopefully you’ll be in a situation where you can move sooner than later.
NTA
I grew up in a One bathroom household, nobody ever walked in on anyone else and we had a working lock. Everyone deserves privacy.
NTA – I grew up in a family of 9 and one bathroom. If we can make it work, they can.
NTA!!! our family is very casual around each other. However, bathroom time is considered private time. As a single mom who raised kids alone in one bathroom house, I totally understand getting ready all at the same time. However, if someone was using the bathroom, the bathroom was completely off-limits. There would be occasions if someone was in the shower we would knock and ask if we could come in to grab something. But never just barge in and absolutely never when someone was using the toilet.
I’m sorry you were dealing with this. That is an extremely strange habit that your family has.
Nta her lashes aren’t even essential. If she was late she could have gone without them
NTA.
im jealous of all the comments saying their families were able to respect their privacy because I grew up in a household just like yours.
Go to a hardware store and get a rubber or wood door wedge. (A couple bucks.) Mom’s gonna hide your chair soon, but the wedge is surprisingly strong.