This past summer, I had three very important goals: 1) write the bulk of my book, 2) teach my kids about giving to people less fortunate and 3) convince Mazzy to take a shower.
You’d think #1 and #2 would be a lot harder than #3 but you’ve probably never seen Mazzy’s reaction to the suggestion she take a shower instead of a bath.
It’s like you’ve asked to trap her in a cage with a bear.
Nevertheless, I was determined to make it happen. And, I was able to combine our shower experiment with doing some good in the world, by participating in the Give H2OPE to Others Campaign.
This back-to-school season, every TRESemme®, Suave® or Caress® product purchased between July 26 and September 30 at Duane Reade or Walgreens will result in 5 gallons of clean water being donated to families in need.
Kids can visit walgreens.com/
Caress® has been my soap ever since my pediatrician recommended it to me for my sensitive skin when I was in elementary school. It’s one of the few brands I have remained loyal to my entire life and I am so pleased to know buying one of my long-time favorites can also help my girls learn about what it means to give to a good cause.
Which is way easier than getting Mazzy in the shower. Especially since I’ve been trying unsuccessfully to ease my daughter’s shower fears since the day she was born.
“BUT SHOWERS ARE AWESOME!”
“EVERYBODY LOVES SHOWERS!”
“IT’S THE BEST PART OF THE DAY!”
FYI, extreme shows of enthusiasm don’t work at all.
For the past five and a half years, it’s been all baths all the time which is tough because I HATE BATHS. I don’t like taking them and I don’t like giving them. My back hurts from bending over the tub. I have a hard time working up a lather. I get annoyed when the kids splash me. I loathe stray hairs floating in the water. I don’t know how to clean certain areas when they are fully submerged. And I find the gunk that remains after the water has drained to be truly repulsive.
Honestly, if I was just bathing Harlow, I would probably be fine. Her hair is thinner and very easy to wash. Mazzy has more hair than a country music singer with foot long extensions and I don’t believe baths get it fully clean. Even if I pour clean water straight from the faucet over her head at the end, it still seems insufficient.
But I was determined to get Mazzy to take a shower at our summer house if it was the last thing I did.
My strategy was to take Mazzy into the shower downstairs which is square and tiled as opposed to a tub like in our apartment. Seems more fun and there is less risk of slipping. The shower is also on the longer side so we can shower together with Mazzy standing on one end without getting wet, if she needs time to work up the courage to go under the water. Kinda feel it out, see that it’s just harmless water raining down and not sharp needles like she seems to suspect.
I also asked Harlow to join us to make it fun family activity (and break my two-year-old in early so I don’t have to go through this again).
Lastly, I told Mazzy she did not have a choice.
She did not like that last part but eventually she obliged. (I might have promised her presents and sweets.)
Once in the shower, I took great effort to ensure the water temperature was comfortable for everyone (which FYI, is way cooler than I would normally make it).
Still, Mazzy would not budge from the dry end.
Finally, I picked her up and forcibly put her under the shower head like I was giving her my own brand of parental water torture.
I told her to close her eyes and put her head back and watched the water rinse through her hair, like it was getting clean for the very first time.
“Mommy, that feels nice.”
“I KNOW!!!! WHAT DO YOU THINK I’VE BEEN TELLING YOU?????”
“Can I try, Mommy?” Harlow asked from the dry end of the shower.
“OF COURSE!”
Harlow loved it too.
Then the two of them fought over how much time they could spend directly under the head before letting the other get a turn. I was relegated to the dry end.
“Isn’t showering AWESOME??”
“Yes! It feels like a waterfall!” That was from Mazzy, the shower convert.
Hallelujah.
Thank you Unilever and Walgreens for partnering with Me to We to #GiveH2OPE to Others so that other families can have access to clean water.
And thanks for helping my children understand how fortunate they are that they get to do regular everyday things like take a shower.
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This post was sponsored by Unilever but my lifelong loyalty to Caress is my own.
Yeah Mazzy!!!! From the time my littles were babies, I’ve always showered with them – they got baths too, but showers were how I spent the majority of cold and flu season trying to keep kids breathing properly (gotta hate winter and the lack of inside humidity – grrr). As a result, all of my little love the shower – they also like baths but prefer the shower because we just all do it as a family shower. Now, Warren takes his own shower all on his own – I love the independence of a five year old (but also secretly hate how fast he’s growing up!!!)!
I think I’m going to switch back to Caress now because of this post! I had forgotten how gentle it is and how good it smells. I still love my Ivory, but now that I’m older my skin is more cantankerous! Thanks for the suggestion!
Yeah Mazzy!!!!!!
Definitely gonna make the husband start showering with the baby on occasion so I try to avoid this problem. Thank you for the idea and the heads up
We’ve showered with our LOs right from the newborn stage (because sometimes that was the only way everyone was getting washed that day!) My now 6 year old showers basically independently. We start the shower to get the temp right, and then she has her own basket of soap, shampoo and conditioner, that are child friendly that she is allowed to use. When she’s done and/or the water has started to turn cold, we go up and shut the water off. But other than that, she showers while we do other things, like wrestle our toddler off to bed.
We’ve recently started having our 5 year old shower alone. She’s always hopped in with me when we were in a time crunch, but now she showers every night before bed. She soaps herself up and rinses while one parent supervises from the other side of the curtain. (The other parent is wrestling our 1 year old into his pajamas since he bathes first and starts the bedtime routine for him.) Once she’s washed her body, the supervising parent helps shampoo and condition (or just condition every other day) since her hair is waist length, thick and curly. It has saved us so much time and greatly reduces the tearful screaming about having to rinse her hair. It’s so weird how such a relaxing thing as a shower is so terrifying to small kids until they try it.
Congratulations! I’ve been trying to get my four year old to shower, even just after the beach or for a quick rinse and he is staunchly opposed. He recently told me, “maybe when I’m 15.” I have my work cut out for me.
Way to go Mazzy!!! My kids generally prefer baths, but tolerate showers. This summer we enforced showers because they were almost daily and they were so dirty from being outside. It is also so much easier to wash my daughter’s hair!
I find this so funny because we don’t have tubs as a rule on every house here in Brazil. They are considered luxury.
I had a small plastic tub as a toddler but when I grew too big for it that was it – straight to the shower… Actually, going to my friend’s house was awesome because after spending the entire afternoon on the pool we would go to the tub and I loved it! Good times haha
It is one of my dreams, when I am rich enough, to have a tub at home!
Congrats Mazzy! Joey takes showers now, and he does it himself except for the shampoo.
He showers, and Brookie does sometimes when it needs to be done quick. (She’s 2)
Allie (4) won’t give up on baths. She likes the bubbles and insists on having a bath every night.
Showers are easier! Thank god Brookie and Joey have decided to do them.