Shower Wars, Part 1

Hockey season kicked into full gear this week. The boys have team practice two nights per week and Ross has an additional night of goalie practice. On hockey nights, dinner and homework are done before we leave for the rink. They get a snack and drink after skating but once home, they are supposed to shower and brush teeth and hop into bed.

Ross has never been much for a shower. He doesn't mind being clean but he prefers a bath and he despises having shampoo or water poured on his head. Last year, we held an every-other-night policy for getting clean but would frequently skip two days unless there had been some serious dirty-getting going on. This year, with all the hockey, Ross has warily identified the daily showers on his horizon and is angling for a dodge. "Mama, how about if I shower in the morning, instead of tonight? I could get right into bed faster..." he trails off.

I know Ross can easily manufacture a ten or fifteen minute distraction, enough to run him right out of time to shower in the morning. Also, there's no way I'm letting all that hockey sweat into his bedsheets. "You can't put your dirty self into your bed but if you want to sleep in the bathtub, that's ok with me."

Ross waits to see if I'll crack a smile, if I'm kidding, and when I don't seem to be, he baits. "Ok, I'll sleep in the tub then," he says brightly.

"Fair warning - if your brother has an accident, he'll throw his pee-pee pants on your head. You know he always puts the wet clothes into the bathtub." Seconds later, Ross is in the shower. Good thing we had that second kid!