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.

By now, we've all seen Vehicle Wraps: enormous vinyl graphics that cover an entire car or bus in a showstopping marketing display. But what about Restroom Wraps?

In a creative marketing move, Japan's Tugboat advertising agency has installed wall graphics on restroom cubicles at ski resorts as a promotion for Georgia Max coffee, a product of the Coca Cola company. This particular campaign aims to promote the coffee drink to sports enthusiasts. Perfect! The imagery makes seated guests feel that they are at the top of a ski slope. Floor graphics of skis adhered at the base of the toilet add to the authenticity. Text touting the benefits of the beverage emblazons the toilet paper holder for further branding. What a great way to generate buzz! Any shop could take this concept, create their own theme graphics, and have a winner washroom that's sure to get people talking about their bathroom...and their business...in a good way.

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Three women, two younger and one senior citizen, were sitting naked in a sauna. Suddenly there was a beeping sound. One young woman pressed her forearm and the beep stopped. The others looked at her questioningly. "That was my pager," she said. "I have a microchip under the skin of my arm."

A few minutes later, a phone rang. The second young woman lifted her palm to her ear. When she finished, she explained, "That was my mobile phone. I have a microchip in my hand."

The older woman felt very low-tech. Not to be outdone, she decided she had to do something just as impressive. She stepped out of the sauna and went to the restroom. She returned with a piece of toilet paper hanging from her rear end. The others raised their eyebrows and stared at her. The older woman finally said, "Well, will you look at that? I'm getting a fax!"

This year, a fun and economical way to celebrate Valentine's Day at home is to surprise your sweetie by fixing up your bedroom and bathroom like a hotel. Fluffy towels, a thick bath mat, gourmet toiletries, and a chocolate on the pillow are a good start — but while you're tending to the details — don't forget the toilet paper. Most hotels fold the end of the toilet paper roll into a point, and, granted, that's a gracious touch...but you can take it up a notch. A toilet paper rose would be the perfect touch! Check out the Toilet Paper Origami book at www.tporigami.com and learn to make your own stunning toilet paper rose.

Two new quotes for the cause this week:

Sheila says, "When it comes to public restrooms, most of them are yuck! But...if I find a clean one, I will drive the extra miles to revisit it."

and

Pearl Jam guitarist, Mike McCready, says there are a number of businesses he won't patronize because they've denied him emergency restroom access. McCready suffers from Crohn's Disease, a gastrointestinal disorder requiring immediate restroom access in an attack.

This review for Skip to the Loo! posted today at Amazon.com.

"For years, I've had a fairly loose rating system for business and public bathrooms--mostly based on cleanliness and the availability of TP--that I used when reporting a bathroom's condition to friends. "It's a 7 or 8--not bad." Or "A definite 2; try to wait until we find a bridge you can hide under." But after reading "Skip to the Loo," my rating system is now much more sophisticated, taking into consideration the number and placement of hooks, the color scheme, the overall ambiance (industrial, homey, or tasteful), the number and placement of waste cans, the soap fragrance, and much more. You may not be a business owner looking for a way to improve the bottom line without spending a lot of money, but don't let that keep you from reading this most entertaining book. In addition to the excellent advice for anyone with a bathroom--business owner or not--the book is a darn good read. In fact, I keep my copy on a side table next to the living room couch. The title alone is enough to prompt visitors to pick it up, leaf through it, chuckle at one of the many witty one-liners, and begin telling their own "stall tales." Don't miss this one. Keep a couple of copies on hand as gifts, or do your favorite businesses a favor and pass along a copy to them." - by Linda Gray

"Leaving a clean toilet for the next person is connected to the feeling of leaving a clean environment for the next generation." — Japan Toilet Labo

As shops in the U.S. and Japan alike gear up to sell loads of chocolates for Valentine's Day, one Japanese organization is launching another kind of love effort. Talk about a good cause, the Mainichi Daily News in Mainichi, Japan reports that the Japan Toilet Labo, a research center devoted to cleaner toilets and restrooms, will launch its first "Give Love to the Toilet" campaign in mid-February. Participants will display "Give Love to the Toilet" stickers in their restrooms that contain assorted poems suggesting that guests use less toilet paper. Initial tests have indicated a 10-12% reduction in toilet paper use when the stickers are displayed. Subsequent campaigns directed at the environmental impact of public restrooms will focus on water and electricity conservation.

Send a "Love Your Toilet" eCard here.

There's nothing like a flush toilet. I can vouch for that. Ours pooped out twice in the past year due to the historic nature of our cracked clay sewer lateral---and it was no picnic. On the first occasion, we shared a port-a-potty in the back yard with our neighbors for a week. On the second, it was days before Christmas and we were shut off without warning. At the suggestion of a friend, I set up a trash bag system: lifted the toilet lid, lined the bowl with a black plastic trash bag, put the lid down and it was good to go. Both experiences gave me fresh appreciation for plumbers, plumbing, and the flush toilet.

Restrooms matter. They matter to the public, and they should matter to any business that wants customers to come back. A restroom provides a revealing peek at your customer service standards------and says a lot about how you run your operation. It's in the best interest of any retailer...be it a small specialty store, restaurant, or big box...to invest sufficient resources into the design and maintenance of their restrooms. After all, this is your image we're talking about!

A spokesperson for Don's Johns, a major provider of portable restrooms for today's Presidential Inauguration, called this "the largest portable restroom event in American history". More than 5,000 potties are poised for the festivities---whereas a typical large event in the nation's capital has around 800 units. The current quantity is projected to accommodate 1.5 millions guests. Watch NBC report the story here.