Cleanliness is next to Godliness

Before kids, I showered daily.  Not just daily but sometimes twice a day.  I shaved my legs daily and my hair was always shampooed and blown dry.  I've never thought of myself as pretty so I figured I needed as much help as I could get.  If 24 hours had passed and I was not showered, you can bet death was knocking on my door.  After M was born, my routine hardly changed.  M has always been a great napper so I could languish in the shower during maternity leave.  Once I returned to work, I had to abbreviate my showers somewhat but I never gave up the daily shave.  I have been shaving my legs daily since high school because I can't stand stubble.  Hate it!!  On me anyway.  On the hubs, a little stubble is a good thing sometimes.  But mornings settled into a routine with M, although I was usually just getting dressed as the sitter arrived.  Thank you, Employer, for the flexible work schedule allowing me to get there a little after 9 each day.

But then C came along and everything changed.  Everything.  When the proverbial "they" say no two kids are alike, they aren't kidding.  C doesn't nap.  Oh, he cat naps here and there throughout the day but for the first 3 months of his life 20 minutes was considered a good nap for him.  Showering became a challenge.  I thought I had it down the day I successfully showered while both were awake.  C was 6 weeks old, M was just over 15 months.  I let M play and had C insecurely seated in his car seat which is how I toted him around those first 2 months.  While drying my hair, I heard a most blood curdling scream from the bathroom floor and turned to see C face down on the ceramic tile while M stood nearby saying, "Uh oh."  Um, yeah.  that is definitely an uh oh.  M was apparently "rocking" C in the car seat and got a little too enthusiastic.  Well, this isn't going to work.

So I readjusted my thinking and started taking quick showers during C's cat naps.  I usually have to forgo the blow dry which has created complications of its own.  As in the showers sometimes just don't take.  Kind of like George Costanza from Seinfeld the day he showered at the gym and went directly to a work meeting.  The hubs will come home and ask if I have had a rough day or if I didn't get a chance to shower.  Yep, I am the George Costanza of motherhood.

Or I get lucky and the rare but coveted double synchronized nap happens.  Ah what a piece of heaven that is.  My quiet time.  My me time.  My shower and blow dry time.  

Sometimes I have to go 36 hours between showers now, but the legs continue to get shaved daily.