Picture of Toddlers' Potty Training in the Middle of a Restaurant Dining Room Goes Viral

Potty training is often considered an unpleasant task facing parents, but under current social norms, it has to be done. And like most bathroom activities, it's usually a private event.

One mother of twins in Utah, though, took her training public, placing her daughters on potty training toilets -- you know, the plastic seats with a little toilet lid -- at a public restaurant's table. KSL-TV reports Kimberly Decker, who was in the restaurant at the time, snapped a photo of this disturbing scene and posted it on Facebook.

Here's how Decker described the incident at the Thanksgiving Point Deli:

"I noticed that this lady was having her two — she had two twins, two little girls about 2-and-a-half years old, sitting on what I thought were booster seats," Decker said.

But after doing a double take, she realized they weren't booster seats, they were child port-a-potties.

"She had to undo the jumpsuits, and take them all the way down so they were completely nude, with the jumpsuits down to their ankles just eating their chicken nuggets, sitting on little toddler potties," Decker said.

Watch the KSL report:

The photo Decker posted on her Facebook profile has since gone viral and has parents across the country talking. Men's News Daily headlines its version of the story saying "civilization is over." Amy Alkon wrote in the post advocating for the use of technology, like cellphone cameras, to "impose the constraints (like shaming)" on rude actions like this. Melissa Lawrence on the Cloud Mom blog writes:

Although I try my hardest not to judge other moms, I was TOTALLY grossed out by the image of a mom potty training her nude toddlers while they snacked on chicken nuggets at a Utah restaurant.  Potty training stinks, no pun intended.  I’ve done it four times and I’m not looking forward to number five.

[...]

When people go out to eat, they deserve to enjoy their meal, not to be exposed to pooping toddlers.  And I’m leaving the smell and sanitation components out of it.  Sorry, but to me this mom made the wrong choice.

Decker told KSL it was busy in the deli at the time and patrons included men at a business meeting.

KSL reports a spokesperson for the deli saying staff didn't realize what was going on until it was too late. The restaurant received several complaints from patrons.

This story has been updated since its original posting to correct a typo. 

(H/T: Huffington Post)