Wait just a Cotton Picking Minute!

Wait a minute (cotton picking), I am the parent why should I wait outside my childs room while they decide whether to let me in. Well knocking on the door is a courtesy to the child, it allows them to say things like "I'm changing" or "Just a minute". It alerts the child that someone is about to enter. Knocking on the door is just saying " I'm coming in, but I don't want to embarass you or frighten you. I respect your need for some degree of privacy." Conversely, the children are not allowed to lock the door unless they are changing clothes and never with another person in the room. We tell our kids this and they do not enter our room either without knocking and waiting for a response. If we ever suspect that something is wrong of course we go on in because the safety of our children overides all other considerations.