to be shocked that SIL and her kids only bath / shower once a week?

[emilytankengine]

I have a shower every day, before work, sometimes twice if I've been to the gym or if we're on holiday / going out. I probably make sure the younger kids get a bath about 5 times a week and my teenage daughter has a shower every day.

SIL was outraged at this and says that she only typically has a bath or a shower once a week! She says that she has a wash every day with a face cloth (including her bottom :O - with a face cloth!!).

Maybe it's me who's odd but I was staggered at this

[worraliberty]

Ewww I hope she only has sex on bath nights!

[EricNorthmansMistress]

she thinks it's bad for the environment and ditto for the tumble dryer.

Well it is! It's also expensive and wasteful. I wouldn't use a dishwasher or tumble dryer even if I had one. I don't have money to burn.

[BulletWithAName]

Sod being eco-friendly, I like to feel clean!

[alemci]

I tend to shower in the morning. if i go out in the evening I may have another shower. If there was no hot water and i was desperate I would have a strip wash but I like the feeling of a shower. My kids shower everyday (teenagers).

[TragicallyHip]

Why on earth does she have a dishwasher and tumble dryer if she wasn't going to use it?

I really do hope she changes her face cloth every day..

[smallsheep]

Although I now shower almost daily - sometimes a bit too much wine and just stagger off to bed - when I was younger we only had a bath on a sunday evening and only washed our hair then too, rest of the week, strip wash it was! everyone did this as far as I can remember, 25 years (or so) ago it was normal, so I don't see the issue.

[worraliberty]

she thinks it's bad for the environment and ditto for the tumble dryer

Can't she just towel herself dry like everyone else?

[cannydoit]

when we were small we had a bath night once a week which was sundays and we washed everyday. when we hit teens my mum upped it to several times a week, i shower or bathe every day but only bath dc once or twice a week except for 11 yr old who bathes when she likes on top of the said bath times. they wash every day it never really crossed my mind that i perhaps should do it more as it was how i was raised until others spoke about how they bathed their children every night. but they dont smell and i dont really see it as a problem

[emilytankengine]

Oh my word I hadn't even considered sex and periods :O

I don't necessarily wash my hair every day but without a shower I really don't feel clean. Also a "strip wash" must be rather chilly!

[Insomnia11]

Ah, another one of those threads...I think it's unusual these days for people to have a stand up wash at the sink instead of showers but it doesn't necessarily mean they have poor personal hygiene. My parents do this and are very clean. I find it easier to jump in the shower personally. Their clothes and home are fastidiously clean, almost to the point of OCD, but they have more time on their hands than me...anyway I digress. My kids only have a bath twice a week, and twice a day a wash at the sink and clean their teeth. Kids don't need a lot of washing - unless they have got very muddy or something - until they are teenagers and the sweat glands kick in.

I could equally say the OP is BU for using so much water unnecessarily.

[Ephiny]

Was quite normal when I was growing up - I remember the Sunday evening bath ritual! If you needed to freshen up in between you did so with a flannel. I'm pretty sure my parents still do this, and they don't smell or look dirty to me.

Yes these days a daily shower seems to be the accepted minimum, but that's a very recent development. And presumably she/her DC don't smell bad or you wouldn't have been 'staggered' to find out? So not really seeing how it affects you.

[Ormirian]

Do they smell? If not why worry.

[Cocoflower]

Thats horrible!

[Fifis25StottieCakes]

i remember being little and we had not much money. We would have a bath on a Sunday and share the bath water.

Now i have a shower every other day. The kids get a Bath on a Sunday with the dickie comb. I get too wet if i do it in the shower and a shower on a wednesday.

I dont feel the need to shower everyday and i could afford the heating/electric bill anyway

[emilytankengine]

It doesn't affect me! I think what really got me is the way she made out that WE were unusual

[pink4ever]

I bath my dcs at least 5 times week-wish it was less often tbh but they play outside every day and get filthy!. I have a bath twice a week.Used to be more often when had working shower but seeing as dh too stingy to get it fixed then I make do. Dh has a bath every morning and sometimes twice at weekends. I do point out to him that cleanliness is not actually akin to godliness but he doesnt listen. He thinks I am a skanky cow.

[valiumredhead]

Goodness, all these precious princesses people who have never/couldn't possibly have a strip wash! I presume you weren't brought up in the 70's

OP you had no idea that your SIL didn't shower every day up until she told you so presumably she is doing a good job of keeping clean! It's the people that DON'T strip wash you want to worry about not the people that DO!

[ooohyouareawfulbutilikeyou]

Was quite normal when I was growing up - I remember the Sunday evening bath ritual!

absolutely, Sing Something Simple on the radio, we took turns to use the water :)

dont think anybody particularly smelt bad then either.

[Ephiny]

Oh I see - well I guess it's one of those things where everyone thinks what they personally do is normal and right, and everyone else is weird :)

[Hulababy]

So long as she and they are washing often I can't see the problem. It was very much the norm when I was growing up.

I shower every day, in a morning and wash my hair most days. DH showers daily too.

However 9y DD doesn't. She will shower 2-3 times a week, each time washing her hair. the rest of the time she has a wash at the sink - which is quicker tbf. She uses one flannel to wash her lower bits, and another to wash her face and upper bits. She is clean and doesn't smell. The flannels go in the wash basket each day.

I assume that the OP's friend uses a different cloth for her face and her bottom, not the same one for both.

[montmartre]

I remember bathing by candlelight once a week in the 70s (strikes, powercuts etc) it was fun, if rather cold.

[usualsuspect]

Sing Something Simple was on after the top 20

We never even had a bathroom

[helenthemadex]

personally I find strip wash with a flannel doesnt make me feel clean, and its more of a faff than jumping in the shower

I tandem shower my 3 every night literally 5 minutes maximum its nice to go to bed clean

[Insomnia11]

As long as you wash your face first it doesn't matter does it?

Flannels washed every day in the laundry?

Doing laundry every day?

Alien to me!

[ThePathanKhansWoman]

I had the last bath after 3 boy cousins growing up, the bath water used to be green and stung my eyes .

The towel would be full of earwax and green snotters , i swear i was dirtier getting out, stopped at about 8, i protested one summer when one of the blighters left leeches {i kid you not} in the bath.

I never got spots as a teenager, not-a-one, and i know it was all due to the dirty baths.