It's hard for young children to stay aboard the large elongated toilet seats at public restrooms. (I was horrified when I saw how my son, at potty training age, had to grip the rim of those seats with both hands.) To make matters worse, when an autoflush goes off prematurely, that's enough to upset this delicate balance — and scare a child into banning public toilets forever.

Here's how to get the upper hand, stop this problem, and empower your child:

Tell your child that you're going to "trick the toilet". Drape a piece of toilet paper over the autoflush sensor. Thus blocked, the toilet will not flush. When finished, your child can remove the strip of TP and let the toilet flush.