Clean kids! - Page 2

[Comtessa]

Originally Posted by Peony 

...I have no idea what he does but even after a bath, he is filthy. He eats and his food is in his hair, on his shirt and pants, all over his entire face, every single time he eats, snacks and meals... His hair is also that long kind that tangles no matter what you do and sticks straight up. Yep, he is hopeless.

LOL... this is me!  My mother used to say about me, "I can dress her up, but I can't take her anywhere.  Hell, I can't even dress her up."  And it was true; still is.  The minute I put on nice clothes to go somewhere, you can guarantee that I'll spill coffee on my blouse, or brush up against a dirty car and leave a smear of filth across my skirt, or scuff my shoes tripping down the stairs, or tear a sleeve on the doorframe, or something.  It's useless trying to keep me neat and tidy.  It isn't that I don't value cleanliness or tidiness or a basically decent appearance for myself or my children... it's that I find it to be an absolutely impossible goal! 

My DD takes after me; she always has food in her hair or something crusted on her mouth.  I try to keep her wiped off when we're in public -- I always have a Ziploc bag of wet washcloths with me, which helps -- but otherwise she's a lost cause. 

DH is mystified by us both, because he is unbelievably clean.  I have seen that man climb into a muddy creek, pull out a 12-foot-long piece of rusty metal, haul it half a mile, then come home without a speck of dirt on him. 

[brennan]

If we're going out, even over to someone else's house I try to start in clean clothes, with clean face/hands.  That doesn't mean she'll stay that way, but I'd rather her start with fresh if we're going out.  If we're hanging out at home I keep her as clean as she wants.  She has sensory issues with stuff on her hands, so her hands are usually spotless, but doesn't care as much about her face/clothes.  I have her wipe herself down now (she's 2 1/2).  As for hair, I brush it in the bath at least once a week (she has curly hair, the only way I can get through it is with conditioner), its totally wild no matter what I do with it, so even if I styled it I don't think she'd look kept.  

All that being said, I think that there is a pretty obvious line in the way kids look between kids who just get dirty playing/eating and kids whose hygiene is neglected.