To Shower or not to Shower?

To shower or not to shower? This is the question.

It shouldn’t be a question, but it is, right? I never fully understood why this would be difficult when you have children. I heard mothers complain about not showering for days and pre-mum me thought, “How hard is it to quickly jump in the shower—really?” But, yes, it is.

I discovered that it is very much a thing with my first child. It was difficult with one, but somewhat manageable. I would put her in the bouncer and take her into the bathroom with me; assuming, that is, I wasn’t quick enough to get one during her nap time. When the second came along, it became a little more complex. I would keep the baby in the bouncer and maybe resort to an iPad to keep my daughter occupied. But then the third child came along.

The thing with three is that It’s just too hard to shower during the day. Like most of you, I’m sure, I really like to shower in solitude, not with three children talking to me or fighting with each other (amplified amazingly with the bathroom acoustics). So, in order to get this solitude, I wait until evening when they are all in bed. Seems simple, right? A few minutes to shower is all you really need; unless, that is, you want to wash your hair, shave, finish a face routine, brush your teeth, get into pajamas … you see where I’m going with this?! When you aren’t showering as often as you would like- so much needs to be done when you do eventually get into the shower. So I could spend that time having a shower- yes, but I could also:

• Tackle that pile of laundry which will only be bigger tomorrow if I leave it.
• Repack the kids’ bags so I don’t need to do that in the morning.
• Make lunches, pack a food bag ready for the next day so I don’t have to do that in the morning.
• Reply to the emails, texts, and Facebook notifications that I haven’t been able to get to all day.
• Clean up the kitchen and living areas so that I don’t have to wake up to it all.
• Spend quality time with my wonderful husband (who, I might point out, has probably done the kitchen for me)
• Catch up on my favourite TV shows and the new released episodes.
• Make it to a fitness class.
• Take our dog for a walk, which happens less than it should these days.
• Sit and do some writing (like now), which is an outlet that I really enjoy.
• Catch up on some study, which is required for my registration.
• Read my book, which I may have to re-read the previous chapter of because I’m probably going to have forgotten what I last read.
• Paint my nails, or even trimming my nails would be nice.
• Or, maybe, go to bed early and catch up on sleep.

And if I don’t do one of these things, it simply banks up for the next day. So, when I look at my night and the hour or two I have before I’m completely spent, sometimes forfeiting a shower is just the more practical option.

As I am writing this, I am asking myself: “To shower or not to shower?” Tonight, I decided to write. I figure my hair can hold out until tomorrow, then I’ll have a nice long shower … I hope. On the one hand, part of living this mum’s life is accepting being grubbier than you like; but on the other hand, there comes a point where I just need to have a shower. There is only so much that deodorant and dry shampoo can do.

Mum life is the best life, but better done showered.