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I have four kids and there are two kids’ bathrooms with baths. Yes, sometimes the little guy uses MY bathroom, but he is starting to transition to using the regular kids bathroom. I’m not going to pretend like 4 kids sharing two bathrooms is very hard … I think my kids live a pretty nice life!
However, there are times during our busy lives when everyone needs to use the bathroom at once, so they become first come, first served … and the kids don’t know which bathroom they’ll end up using. That makes some personal items tricky to store in the right place! And that is a good enough reason for personal grooming baskets right there.
BUT – that is not my only motivation for creating these for my tweens. I admit that my strongest motivation was to promote good hygiene routines. I feel like the things in the basket serve as *reminders* … saying “use me, use me” to the kids every time they grab their baskets.
I remember the first time I hugged one of my oldest girls after school and smelled it. It being body odor. I didn’t know in advance when to expect my children would need deodorant, but my nose notified me when the moment arrived (fresh age of 10!). The system must be working, because I haven’t smelled them since I gave them each their own deodorant and a little basket to put it in.
And that’s where it all started. A basket and one thing inside: deodorant.
The rest of the contents slowly grew from there. They are simple things that a tween would need.
{Yes, I have my girls use the same weird, natural, lotion-type deodorant I use because I know it works and is healthy for them. You can read more the Deodorant HERE and the Lotion HERE.}
Right now the Morning and Bath Time Grooming Baskets have –
- Deodorant
- Lotion
- Hairbrush
- Elastics
- Nail Clippers
- Lip Gloss
- Floss
When they are done getting dressed or taking baths, they put everything back in their baskets and put their baskets away. Easy peasy!
I’m sure there are lots of ways of helping kids have their personal hygiene items handy. This is what I do, what do you do?
From my home to yours,
Mary
I really like this. I was just going to ask you how to keep up with the little needs of your kids cause i find i end up doing things kind of half haphazardly whenever i remember. I would love to learn more of your maintenance plans or routines of how and when you take care of all those little things they need like cutting nails, baths, getting knots out of hair,and taking care of the different specific needs for each child. I really need a better system so that they are groomed and cared for methodically instead of whenever i notice their nails are long!
I don’t think it’s silly to ask all those questions, I think moms should talk and learn from each other so we all don’t have to re-invent the wheel! I’m starting to try to put more of these kinds of things out there after receiving encouragement from friends. I’m calling them my “This Is What I Do” posts, because I have a million little things I do that I never thought were special, but friends are telling me that I need to post more of the simple things. 🙂
I have established Wednesday as nail cutting day for my kids. I cut the babies nails every week. I also tell the older kids to wash hair and clean ears every other day. Showers and baths are every day but their day off is Friday.
Thanks RT good idea
I love that you have a day built in your routine for your kids’ grooming! Your kids sound loved and well taken care of!
I know it may seem silly for me to ask these simple questions because they are just basic things but i really would love to learn more from how you do things because you are much more practical and efficient than me. Your blog has helped me and my 4 kids so much.
Toothbrushes/toothpaste? What’s your solution for those? Thanks!
If you see the tour of the girls bathroom, you’ll see that they are in a drawer there. In that bathroom, the private part of the bathroom has a separate door from the sinks, so they can always jut use the sinks to brush their teeth. I hadn’t even thought of adding toothbrushes since that habit already seemed in place on its own. 🙂
What about their toothbrush and toothpaste if they are using different bathrooms?
LOL – I didn’t even think about that until you and someone else asked this morning. You can see my response above. 🙂
I look forward to reading them!
where do your kids keep their baskets? I’m wondering if they stay out or if you have a place where they go out of sight.
Also I have three kids and we only have one bathroom. Any tips?
Right now they are in cabinets in the bathrooms. Or sometimes they get left on dresser tops, and sometimes they even get left on bathroom counters. Even though they aren’t always where I prefer (inside of the bathroom cabinet), it looks so much neater with them being contained in a basket at least!
I needed this! We will be downsizing from 3 bathrooms to 1 and it’s a great way of everyone having what they need to hand. We will need to draw up a rota for showering/bathing. 2 kids prefer showers, 2 prefer baths, I like both but depends on my health that day which I have.
I think these will be perfect! Rotating sounds perfect!