Shower to the People

I remember a time when bathing was just a part of life. You wake up, start the kettle for tea, mosey back to the bathroom, shower, deodorize, dress...done! Then came baby #1. Not too hard. Just incorporated her into the routine with maybe nursing between get up and the kettle. Then baby #2. The routine had to be switched up just a little. I'd wait for daddy to get home from work then read in the bathtub...my own little sanctuary. The same followed with baby #3. Then we added #4. I figured I could still be considered clean every other day. My head looked like a brillo pad, but that's what head coverings (or Do Rags as my husband so kindly calls them) are for:) We fluctuated between 4 and 6 children (foster) for three years and then settled (for now) on six. I don't know what happened, but transitioning from 4 to 6 made showering a difficult endeavor. It alludes me for some reason. I know it's there. I hear other people taking showers. The water bill indicates water is being used for more than drinking. It's almost like being on a desert island cawling down the hall grasping my nose croaking out "shower....shower". But somehow I always get intercepted by someone or some responsibility before I actually make it to the shower. And with the adult onset ADHD (ooooh look, something shiny!) Then by evening....well....you get the picture. I have found I can successfully go up to 3 days in the summer and up to...dare I say...5 during the cooler months. I just pretend I'm Ma on Little House on the Prairie. She always looked nice, but they only took a weekly bath unless it was a special occasion, which you knew it was if Pa went to the creek to bathe in his longjons and put on lemon verbena after. I'm trying to be...historical:)

So if you come to my home, I hope you come for the hospitality. And the headcovering...not so much for piety as for practicality, except while in church:)