While I was pregnant with my son I started Oh Baby! Magazine and that’s when my ‘education’ began. It seems like I was reading everything online (and off) about pregnancy and baby. One of the things I started to really hate was the concept that new moms don’t have time to shower. This made me uneasy. While I realize that skipping a shower is not the end of the world and, let’s face it, I do not really get THAT dirty, I still have always started my days with showers. The more I read about moms not having time to shower I thought to myself, “this will not be me.”
I vowed to myself that I would not sacrifice my daily shower. I needed my shower in order to really start my day. I needed it to feel awake and to feel somewhat like a semi-functioning human being. I’m happy to report that seven years and two kids later I have stayed true to that.
Ok, I may have had a few really lazy days (just between you and I) where I stayed in my pjs all day… and really those don’t happen often enough. Not showering wouldn’t be because my baby wouldn’t let me. It would be my choice, not a sacrifice.
After my first baby was born, I had a shower every day and I would highly recommend it. I didn’t wash my hair each time I showered and I didn’t always use a razor and shaving cream, but I made it a part of our daily routine and I can honestly say I felt better for it.
Sometimes I showered while my baby was awake in his crib and sometimes he was in the bathroom with me in his chair or excersaucer – sometimes he was asleep. And sometimes I should have been sleeping with him instead of showering, but I always felt better after a nice hot shower. When I felt crappy I knew that I would have likely felt crappier if I hadn’t brushed my hair, had a shower and put on my contact lenses.
When my daughter came along showering was more of a challenge with two kids in diapers, but I did it — that was when I mastered the five-minute shower. While my house has never stayed very clean for very long since having kids, I can honestly say that I never fell into the stereotype of the mom that doesn’t have time to shower.
I know this might seem a bit silly to some of you. I mean how can one person go on and on about the simple act of showering daily? Once you have a baby sometimes the simple things get left behind and sadly, it’s usually the simple things that make you happy. Moms usually put their needs at the bottom of their list and sometimes they never actually get crossed off. This is the one thing that I never sacrificed after having babies. It really isn’t all about being clean and fresh either. Sometimes those five minutes alone are all we need to feel good. Is there one thing that you didn’t give up? Did it help you stay sane like my showers did? I’d love to hear about it!
Canada’s free pregnancy and early parenting publication Oh Baby! Magazine and ohbabymagazine.com are dedicated to providing readers with information to support them through pre-conception, pregnancy, and their child’s early years. Regular Oh Baby! features include: nutrition and health tips, recipes, cool stuff, fun contests, blogs and so much more!
Totally!! I had very bad PPD and one of the main things that I vowed was that I needed to shower and dress every day – I was afraid I would just get worse if I didn’t. It was SO important.
The first time around I definitely put myself at the bottom of the list and just wore pajamas for the first month. I was dazed and confused. But the second time around ..I made sure I got dressed everyday. That helped a lot!