The Nitty Gritty

Last night as a sat at my computer checking my e-mail a sudden scream comes from the bathroom, as I race up the stairs a dripping wet boy barely covered by a towel comes racing out into the kitchen. His screams turn into cries as he tells me about the mosquito that  is chasing him around the shower. WHAT! Of course at this point I am already on edge as it took a 20 minute argument to get him to take a shower and another 10 minutes of fighting over which bathroom he was to use. (We only have two, so if someone is in one it stands to reason you'll be using the other.) I walk into the bathroom to destroy this terrifying intruder, which I am unable to locate and send my son back in to finish what he started. 3 minutes later he emerges hair still dry and insisting that he's clean. hhhmmmm...

I'm not sure when it happened but at some point bathing became a point of contention between me and my two oldest boys. I think they should bath often, they feel like once or twice a month should be considered sufficient.

It use to be that this was their favorite part of the day. When they were little filling up the tub with warm water, bubbles and toys created an excitement unmatched by many of our other activities. If I didn't plan to give them a bath they would beg for one. As they got older nothing was more fun than getting in the shower and spraying water everywhere. And using the Daddy's shower was the coolest thing in the world. (That's our smaller bathroom with a shower stall.)

Now every couple of days I have to start the battle to get them in the shower. It always begins the same:
" B or C, you need to take a shower."
" I just took one."
"That was two days ago."
"I'm not dirty."
"You are and it doesn't matter, because I told you to take a shower. Now please do it."
"I don't have any soap"
"Let me get you some."
"Do I have to wash my body?"
"Yes"
"What about my hair?"
"Yes"
Sometimes there's an argument about which shower to use. Inevitably they always want to use the one that's already occupied. And then comes the fun part. As the child exits the bathroom within moments of going in and I notice their hair isn't even damp.
"Are you done?"
"yes."
"Did you wash your hair?"
"yes"
"Why isn't it wet?"
"It's short so it dries fast?"
"Really?"

Some nights I fight the battle to get them back into to wash their hair and some nights I just give up. It makes me wonder if I should look forward to when they are concerned about their personal hygiene but then I know that means GIRLS.