We are big on handwashing in our family. Perhaps a mite too much, but I must say that most of it is about keeping my pretty new carpet clean...still, we try to wash hands whenever we come in from playing outside, before eating, and after eating. That's not over the top, is it? (It does seem that way when you're a 5-year-old boy, though -- especially if you eat quickly, it feels like I just told you to wash your hands!)So the things that "work" to make handwashing go well in our house...
- cool foamy soaps (I don't buy this kind, I usually buy whatever's on sale, especially if it's not antibacterial. I think the kind right now in the bathroom is Sponge Bob. Oy.)
- accessible handtowels so there aren't drips and drops all over
- sometimes allowing playtime while washing -- it's not all about business all the time, is it?
- keeping a plastic cup by the sink to aid in washing the hands of the 2-year-old. He's not big enough to reach the water stream for rinsing, even with the stool, so I've started to use a cup (a la the Jewish handwashing cup) to rinse his hands. This way he's washing at the sink and doing the rubbing of hands together, but I get to help with the rinsing. It works better than trying to pull his poor little arms out of the sockets to get him to reach or squish his tummy against the side of the counter...
What do you do to keep hands clean in your house?
See more Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer...
9 comments:
I border being OCD about my own handwashing but my kids are so thick skulled I am constantly reminding them to wash. I like the cup trick for little guys- that could come in handy.
These are GREAT tips!
I used to be an anti-bacterial freak! Now with all the reports that it's more harmful than good, we just use a fun bar of soap, or we use the Walmart brand (Equate) of soft soap. We buy the huge jug and just refill!
Thanks for sharing - and thanks for stopping by my blog!
I love the cup idea. I also love that you mentioned letting them play a little. My kids would go ga-ga over permission to play in the water while washing. And the foamy soap, well I purchased some of that on sale with a coupon and my kids are CRAZY for it! Then I realized I could refill it. So, they are none the wiser thinking they are using special soap because they are somethin' special. When in reality, it is on sale non-antibacterial, liquid soap. I worried they would notice the melon smell was not there. But they haven't noticed.
Nikki
Great idea about the cup! We have a stepstool in the bathroom, but I learned the hard way that a stepstool in the kitchen is an invitation to mischief! We don't use antibacterial soap either.
Sometimes we sing a song.
More to put an end to the hand washing then make it last long enough.
My guy could stand there for a good twenty minutes and at the end have water over the floor and used an entire bottle of soap.
Washing hands before meals is a symbolic Jewish tradition anyway...way to incorporate it into your daily schedule...just teach them the prayer when they wash their yadayim and their estbaot :)
Bradley
The Egel Nest
I like the idea of a cup!! I'm going to try it.
I've avoided too much antibacterial stuff for ages - some people think I'm nuts, but now that they are (finally) showing studies that it is not so good...yea!
We have a cool refillable pump in the bathroom. It's a blue cat! How cool is that?! I love the method brand of liquid soap and it's also not antibacterial. My MIL keeps bringing me the antibacterial stuff, and I keep sending it back home with her! She just doesn't get it!
I will definitely get a cup for al nitilat yadayim! What a wonderful suggestion!
This is a hard one for me because my eight year old has eczema and can't use a lot of soaps. Also, washing too often really irritates his skin. Any of you who have an eight year old boy knows that an eight year old boy can NEVER wash too often! So I buy hypo-allergenic soap and I pray a lot. Ha!
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