Stepson is thirteen now. That means on top of the whole puberty thing he’s got going on, he’s also got this lovely lack of interest in basic hygiene taking over. It’s GROSS. Yesterday, as he lay on the floor watching a movie, I realized he was wearing the same socks he’d been wearing when he came over. Over 24 hours prior.
Ew.
(And who knows when he’d actually put them ON before coming over).
He wore those socks through a two hour baseball practice. Wore them while helping Hubby clean the garage. Wore them to bed. Wore them all day yesterday.
And it never even occurred to him to change his socks until he was prompted to. Showering requires a reminder. To top that off, you have to remind him that while he is IN the shower, the use of soap for his body and shampoo for his hair are also necessary.
I’m told it’s not just him. That a lot of young teenage boys are a little… lax on the whole “getting-clean” thing. Makes me actually pretty eager for the whole “girl crazy” thing. I am looking forward to him WANTING to shower and primp and look nice.
Having daughters, it’s the opposite extreme. It’s not uncommon for them to have at least one wardrobe change mid-day (just “because” — the number of wardrobe changes ups considerably if red koolaid is involved). And though I’m told that girls also tend to go through the whole “Showers? Who needs showers?” phase, I just can’t see that happening. Not when there are fancy blue glitter hair gels and four shirts all begging to be worn on the same day.
About sarah
Hey, Sarah…I tagged you on my blog.
http://yappydogs.blogspot.com/
Sarah…I made my stepson start doing his own laundry when he was about twelve because I refused to reach into his discarded jeans to pull out socks and underwear. Talk about ewwww. Many years later when he was in boot camp, he actually thanked me for teaching him to do laundry. He was amazed at the people who didn’t know you are supposed to wash colors and whites separately. LOLOL
It’s not a boy/girl issue. I have two sons. One is content to wear the same thing all the time, the other changes three to four times a day.
Mine is right there with yours. He’s almost 14, quite a way into the puberty thing physically (mentally is another question) and likes to wear the same clothes for days. He comes on Friday in his school uniform, sleeps in same uniform until noon the next day and then stays in it. I prompt him all the time to change and since Dad is often out working our biz on Saturday, I’ve given up. Talk about ewww…. no showers while here, no brushing teeth and rarely washing hands. Gross!
Try http://www.copalife.com for “No Stink Socks” they really work. Yes the cure to smouldering socks under the bed. They are really good when on holiday too, less things to carry.