Encouraging Personal Hygiene

It has been a while since my last blog, and don’t think it is because I have had nothing to write about. Last night I was unable to finish devotions because my two beautiful children have re-entered the stinky phase. In the old days of baby and toddler-hood they were both so adorable, but the smell was unbearable some of the time. Every day it seemed they made a mess in their pants that stunk up the house, then stunk up the garbage can. But after that stage things started slowly smelling better as a parent. But now it is feet and general body odor. So last night before we read the Holy Book, I had to demand shower to rid the air of the unholy aromas wafting about. On my way to the shower, my son said, “Dad, you should write a blog, and call it impersonal hygiene.” So here we go…

A few days ago I went to shave and decided to investigate my children’s tooth brushing habits. From what I can tell from the evidence they left behind is that when I tell them to brush their teeth this is what is going on. They take their toothbrush and put a large dollop of paste on it. It has to be big enough so that when they stick it under the water to wet their toothbrush the surface area can catch the water sending the freshly squeezed part to the bottom of the sink. I kid you not, our bathroom sink has more whiteheads than I did in high school. (I shiver with horror thinking about those wonderful popping days). Then they take the wet, paste-less brush and begin the precise and rigorous task of gnawing. Their brushes look like they rinsed them using the garbage disposal. After a couple minutes of chewing, I am not sure, but I think they rinse their mouth with water and spit it directly onto the mirror.

I am happy my children will shower with only minimal amounts of cajoling and threatening, but I cannot figure out my son's aversion to using a towel to dry off. He has figured out a time saving devise that allows him more playing time before bed. His pajamas double as sleepwear and a towel.
While I encourage general hygiene, I have found out that a good set of nose plugs and some aerosal air-freshener are much easier. I figure if they stay stinky maybe it will help keep other boys and girls who are wearing cologne/perfume in junior high away.

Advice: Crack the windows!