I don’t shower as often as I would like to. My last one, in fact, was weeks days ago.
It’s not that I don’t like to shower. I really enjoy a nice, long shower. It’s just that I can’t seem to get showering worked into my stay-at-home-mom schedule.
My schedule, by the way, goes something like this:
- 6:30 am – Grace wakes me up. I go get her from the crib, and I bring her into my bed to try to eek out another half hour of sleep.
- 7:00 am – Grace is either playing with the speaker phone or jumping on me or prying my eyes open, so I get up. We feed our 4 cats and give Molly (one of the cats) her medicine. We feed the turtle.
- 8:00 am – Grace sits on the potty for a few minutes, then I prepare our oatmeal, and we eat breakfast. After breakfast, we play until Sesame Street comes on at 9.
- 9 to 10 am – We watch Sesame Street, all snuggled up on the couch.
- 10 am to noon – I struggle with Grace to take a nap. She finally conks out and sleeps for an hour if it’s a really good day. If it’s not a good day, she sleeps for twenty to thirty minutes. Of course, she only sleeps if I’m rocking her, so I do that and check email and catch up on my Google reader and Twitter. If she wakes up too soon, she’ll happily empty all of her dresser drawers while I finish what I’m doing.
- noon – I make us lunch, and we eat. After lunch, we do the day’s chores, which always take longer than I anticipate. If we get them done early, we play and read books in the living room.
- 3:30 pm – Joe comes home, we start dinner, and we play. I usually check email, reader, Twitter, and try to blog during this time, too.
- The rest of the evening is family time – Dinner, Grace’s bath, bedtime, then Joe and I do something together, like watching tv (classic bonding activity, non?).
I digressed a little with my whole daily schedule. You get my point. When am I going to shower? I’m always “on duty.”
I was lamenting this to my father recently, who said, “Uh, why don’t you take a shower during the day?”
I thought the answer was perfectly obvious. I can’t leave the baby alone in the house for a half hour while I’m in there, and if I put her in the shower with me, she screams the whole time.
“Leave her in the bathroom while you’re in the shower. Shut the door so she can’t get out. You should’ve been able to figure that out; you’re the smart one.” Being the “smart” sibling always gets brought up when I’ve missed something important.
So this morning, I tried out his suggestion. It worked. Grace did not escape the bathroom. She didn’t throw anything into the toilet, and she didn’t get into anything poisonous. (For the record, everything poisonous was locked away, but I was still paranoid worried about it.)
We have sliding glass doors on our tub, so I left them open a bit at the back. Grace could see and talk to me, and she kept herself busy the whole time.
Because she was looking for things to toss into the shower.
First, she threw her rubber ducky in. I guess Ducky needed a washing.
Then she found two bottles of shampoo, and threw them into the shower. Maybe she thought I didn’t have enough.
Then Grace got a box of tampons from behind the toilet, and attempted to throw them in. Fortunately, I intercepted those just in time.
I guess I looked bored because she found some of her fishy friends and tossed them in with me.
Next came the bag of Plackers, into the shower.
Because I wasn’t hurrying enough, she also got into the trash and threw some used cotton swabs into the shower, too.
Oh, it was a fun time. I can’t wait to do it again next week tomorrow.
© 2008 – 2017, Tara Ziegmont. All rights reserved.
TheAngelForever says
I so feel your pain. I usually squeeze a shower in before my husband leaves for work in the morning or at night when the boys are in bed.
Good luck with your next shower adventure 🙂
TheAngelForever says
I so feel your pain. I usually squeeze a shower in before my husband leaves for work in the morning or at night when the boys are in bed. Good luck with your next shower adventure 🙂
Jen says
I keep saying I *should* shower at night before bed. Then I don’t have to do it in the morning. Sounds good in theory…but it never happens. lol
Jen says
I keep saying I *should* shower at night before bed. Then I don’t have to do it in the morning. Sounds good in theory…but it never happens. lol
workout mommy says
you are not alone! I never get the chance to enjoy a shower either, and even when I can get the kids to stay in the bathroom with me, it is so stressful that it isn’t worth it!
workout mommy says
you are not alone! I never get the chance to enjoy a shower either, and even when I can get the kids to stay in the bathroom with me, it is so stressful that it isn’t worth it!
Heather @ Not a DIY Life says
Here’s what I do: after breakfast, I put Ladybug in her crib with toys/books/etc (the crib has become a glorified play pen!), turn on a CD, turn on the baby monitor, and grab a shower. I can hear her, and she loves listening to music, so it keeps her occupied.
So far, this has worked well for us. And I get to listen to music (thru the baby monitor) while I’m showering.
Heather @ Not a DIY Life says
Here’s what I do: after breakfast, I put Ladybug in her crib with toys/books/etc (the crib has become a glorified play pen!), turn on a CD, turn on the baby monitor, and grab a shower. I can hear her, and she loves listening to music, so it keeps her occupied.So far, this has worked well for us. And I get to listen to music (thru the baby monitor) while I’m showering.
Linda says
I always take a shower at night after the children are in bed. It helps me t relax before bed. That was the only time I could do it when my children were little. Good luck to you. I hope you can figure out something that works for you.
Linda says
I always take a shower at night after the children are in bed. It helps me t relax before bed. That was the only time I could do it when my children were little. Good luck to you. I hope you can figure out something that works for you.
Scrapping Servant says
LOL- I love this post… I have 3 kids age 3 and under, so I TOTALLY understand wanting to shower but not being able to all the time.
Sometimes I take a bath simply because it is quieter so I can hear what they might be getting into, or if someone wakes up, you know.
And yes, it’s me, I’m the resident tackler at 5mins4mom, sorry to confuse you :o)
Scrapping Servant says
LOL- I love this post… I have 3 kids age 3 and under, so I TOTALLY understand wanting to shower but not being able to all the time.Sometimes I take a bath simply because it is quieter so I can hear what they might be getting into, or if someone wakes up, you know.And yes, it’s me, I’m the resident tackler at 5mins4mom, sorry to confuse you :o)
Melissa says
I put Maddie in her high chair wheeled over by the bathroom door and leave the door open. I give her a sippy cup and a bunch of cheerios to keep her happy!
Needless to say, it is still not very relaxing, so on the weekends when DH is home I take a very nice, quiet, long one!
Melissa says
I put Maddie in her high chair wheeled over by the bathroom door and leave the door open. I give her a sippy cup and a bunch of cheerios to keep her happy! Needless to say, it is still not very relaxing, so on the weekends when DH is home I take a very nice, quiet, long one!
SarahHub says
I am so with you on this!
SarahHub says
I am so with you on this!
MizFit says
this SAHM workfromhomemom sadly lives this post as well…
M.
MizFit says
this SAHM workfromhomemom sadly lives this post as well…M.
Stephanie says
I can totally relate! Two little ones under the age of three makes it SO HARD to squeeze in some shower time! Good luck, to both of us. 🙂
Stephanie says
I can totally relate! Two little ones under the age of three makes it SO HARD to squeeze in some shower time! Good luck, to both of us. 🙂
Rachel says
Ha ha — why is it that kids want to play with tampons? My little girl threw a fit this morning b/c I took a box away from her!
Rachel says
Ha ha — why is it that kids want to play with tampons? My little girl threw a fit this morning b/c I took a box away from her!
Riley's Momma says
Yeah, I struggle with this too, it depends on how dirty I feel. Do I want to really scrub well, then he comes in the shower and screams the whole time, otherwise, bathroom lockdown at our house as well.
Riley's Momma says
Yeah, I struggle with this too, it depends on how dirty I feel. Do I want to really scrub well, then he comes in the shower and screams the whole time, otherwise, bathroom lockdown at our house as well.
julia says
i feel your “pain”. andres keeps saying he wants to put cabinet locks under our bathroom sink and i’ve repeatedly told him that were it not for my make-up bag, tampons, leftover nursing pads, etc., that i would never get to shower. i think antonio has more fun under that sink than he does with some of his toys.
julia says
i feel your “pain”. andres keeps saying he wants to put cabinet locks under our bathroom sink and i’ve repeatedly told him that were it not for my make-up bag, tampons, leftover nursing pads, etc., that i would never get to shower. i think antonio has more fun under that sink than he does with some of his toys.
Little One's Baby Gifts says
I’m so glad I’m not alone here! I also put my 2 year old in his crib with a bunch of books while I shower. But, then he started throwing his books out of the crib, and I would panic and think that he fell out of the crib, and I would hop out of the shower all dripping wet and run into his room. So, I got smarter and only give him soft cover books now! He’s almost ready for big boy bed, and I have no idea what I am going to do when that day comes.
Little One's Baby Gifts says
I’m so glad I’m not alone here! I also put my 2 year old in his crib with a bunch of books while I shower. But, then he started throwing his books out of the crib, and I would panic and think that he fell out of the crib, and I would hop out of the shower all dripping wet and run into his room. So, I got smarter and only give him soft cover books now! He’s almost ready for big boy bed, and I have no idea what I am going to do when that day comes.