During the morning and evening rush, you likely have a number of tasks to attend to at home. Taking care of the kids certainly falls into that category, but you can alleviate some of the stress on yourself by teaching them healthy habits for attending to their own personal hygiene.
Bathing
For safety and proper cleaning purposes, little ones need assistance bathing until they reach a certain age. When they are old enough to bathe alone safely, however, they may have some fears about the tub. Some kids, in particular, are scared of the water coming out of the shower head. Installing a shower hose is one way to reduce this fear. Your kids may feel less afraid of the hose since it is not so high above them, and the flexibility of the hose allows for cleaning with greater ease.
Hand Washing
Proper washing of the hands is so important to good health, but your kids may simply not know how they are supposed to tackle this task. Washing one’s hands in the correct manner is about more than just slathering on soap and rinsing the suds away with water. Show your children how to properly build up a lather, keep their hands under the water for the right amount of time, and thoroughly dry their hands off. A timer in the bathroom can help with this task.
Body Odor
When your children are around middle-school age, you will likely need to have a discussion with them about bodily changes. This discussion is a good time to discuss deodorant and antiperspirant. You can also set up bins in their room for laundry and consider teaching them how to do laundry. As far as shoes, allocate a specific area of the house for shoes, thereby containing the stench. Also, look into safe sprays that the kids can use to clean their shoes.
Dental Hygiene
Once your children are old enough to brush their own teeth, teach them how to dispense the toothpaste and proper motions for brushing. Remind them to brush for at least two minutes, both morning and night. Flossing might be particularly difficult at first, but with enough persistence, your children will master this essential skill.
Also, while your kids likely aren’t going to have the ability to drive themselves to the dentist for some time, you can encourage them to employ the practices they learn at the dental office into their everyday lives. If your kids are really young, setting up a system of rewards for going to the dentist can work well. You don’t want them to think that they get rewarded for every little action, but you also want to show them that visiting the dentist is a positive experience.
Teaching your kids how to take care of their bodies does more than reduce the number of tasks that you must attend to. These lessons can help them to develop healthy habits for life.
