Parents will relate....

[Murph]

Its time for bed, a typical conversation goes like this:

ME: Go brush your teeth
The kids: Okay
Me(thinking of loopholes): Use a toothbrush, AND toothpaste AND brush each tooth more than once!
The kids: Daddy! (Foiled in their nefarious plot)

ME: Go take your shower.
The kids: Okay!
Me (thinking of loopholes, and destroyed sheet rock, excess soap left everywhere, and mopping up excess water): Use mommy's shower, do not play games in the shower, use soap..On your body and no where else, Use shampoo..On your hair, and nowhere else, use a wash cloth to place the soap on your body (and no where else), and then RINSE all the soap off. Do not attempt to feed the soap to your sister, or the dog, or make the soap bar into mush, or use it to clean off the walls of the shower. Do NOT wash the dog, Do NOT allow the dogs into the shower while you are in it. DO NOT allow to dogs to drink water from the shower, and NO NOT let the dogs drink soapy water.

Dry yourselves off, and this includes everywhere clothing is going to be placed, and your hair.

Pick up the towels, robes, dirty clothes and put them where they belong

Put on CLEAN underwear, socks and PJ's.

The kids: Awwww Daddy, thats not fair!

Does this sound like a parental conversation you have had?

[L Stegall]

Yes, both as a kid and a parent. lol.

[GeoffreyB]

That's my life - 4 and 6 year old boys - so include
ME: Don't hit your brother, Don't try to make him eat the soap, No pushing or shoving in the shower, don't leave your towels on the floor/bed/dog.

Wouldn't trade it for the world (most days).

[mom2aidan]

disclaimer: child is 3 and sometimes showers with me to save water and time

me: lets go get a bath/shower
kid: no bath
me: you can shower with mommy
kid: my bath
we get in shower and it goes
me: stop peeing on my foot...turn around and pee the other way or go pee pee in the potty
kid: *giggles and pees more*

[Cajungaltx]

Yup... completely. Tori - my now 12 year old and I have these kinds of discussions:

She takes a shower, 45 minute later she gets out...
"Did you wash your hair?"
"Yes" with a look of disgust at me.
"With shampoo?"
"No..... "... same look of disgust at me... as if she can figure out how in the HECK I know she didn't use shampoo.... I say nothing of the fact that there is no freaking shampoo in her shower, a fact that I found out when cleaning the tub.... *sheesh*

---------------------------------------

Part 2:

She has 5K worth of braces in her mouth... "Did you brush your teeth?" is said almost as much as "Hello!".... she gets annoyed when I ask.... so I told her if she remembered to do it herself, I wouldn't have to reminder her..... lol.

And she's a GREAT kid.... lol...

[Debbi]

Absolutely. The hard part now, with a 12 yo boy, is to get him to take a shower at all. Every night it's a battle and then I have to smell his hair afterwards to make sure he used shampoo. All of his life, take a shower also meant "brush your teeth" but I still have to ask him nightly and the answer is "no". Kids!!!

[celticmama36]

Oh goodness, you were looking into my house 5 years ago.

Me: Go take a shower.
Them: Yes, ma'am.
Me: Make sure you take your clean clothes into the bathroom with you.
Them: Yes, ma'am.
Me: Use soap.
Them: Yes, ma'am.
Me: Make sure you rinse off.
Them: Yes, ma'am.
Me: Make sure you dry off before you put on your clothes.
Them: Yes, ma'am.

Then, depending on which kid when they came out of the shower:

Me: Why are your clothes wet?
Them: Ummm
Me: You didn't dry off with the towel, did you?
Them: What towel?
Me: (looking into the bathroom) This one?!

OR

Me: Did you take your shower?
Them: Yes, ma'am.
Me: Why isn't your hair wet?
Them: Ummmm
Me: You didn't use water, did you?
Them: Ummmm I don't think so.

OY! My mama never went through that with me. I drove her nuts, yeah, but I knew how to take a shower, using soap AND water, and I knew what the towel was for, and how to use it before I got dressed.

No one ever warned me that Showering 101 would be like teaching calculus to a kid. :)