Have you ever had to help a young child wash his or her hands? It's an adventure. The simple act that many of us take for granted is not yet second-nature to them, so there are all sorts of interesting, and unique, ways in which they do things in sub-optimal ways.
An adult, for example, knows that you only really need enough water to get your hands wet. The soap is the star of the show, not the water. Little kids don't know that. They splash the water around like it's going out of style, often times getting the sink, their clothes, and any nearby adults wet in the process. In fact, I have often taken to letting them run their hands under the water for a few seconds, and then turning off the tap. That helps to minimize any potential shenanigans involving the water.
They also don't really give the soap the attention it deserves. Again, you're supposed to scrub your hands with the soap, to kill all of the germs that may have attached themselves to your hands along the way. I, however, have witnessed a young child take a dab of soap between their hands, clap them together a couple of times, and declare victory. I mean, it was funny, but it didn't get their hands any cleaner. It's only once they've at least accomplished some semblance of rubbing their hands together that I turn the water back on.
Drying their hands is the last, but often least-successful steps. As best as I can tell, many munchkins assume the point of the towel is touch it, not so much to rub off the remaining wetness on their hands. I will also allow for the fact that motor function is still developing for some of them, so it's fairly understandable. Still, I have often had to do a "wetness check" with their hands to validate that they have, in fact, dried their hands.
By this point, you might be curious why I started writing about little kids washing their hands. It's not like the Mild Wife and I have suddenly acquired a young child of our own. Sure, we still have nieces and nephews, but with the pandemic going on, we haven't really seen as much of them lately (we are trying our best to socially distance ourselves in order to be safe).
That last sentence, however, provides a hint for why this is on my mind: the virus has made me far more conscious about washing my hands. It's not like I avoided the process before, but now I am far more intentional about the process. However, because I take extra care with the scrubbing process, I have noticed that the water is running for longer than usual. At some point, I decided that I should turn the tap off while I scrub my hands with soap, in order to avoid wasting water.
That last bit should sound familiar: that's exactly the same trick I use with the munchkins. The last time I turned off the water, a sense of deja vu hit me, and I realized that this was a familiar process to me. In short, I had become one of the munchkins that I help wash their hands. I had a good laugh about that when I realized it, and made doubly sure to scrub my hands properly. I had to do it properly, after all.
Oh, and you better believe that I made sure my hands were good and properly dry. I wouldn't want to be hypocritical.
An adult, for example, knows that you only really need enough water to get your hands wet. The soap is the star of the show, not the water. Little kids don't know that. They splash the water around like it's going out of style, often times getting the sink, their clothes, and any nearby adults wet in the process. In fact, I have often taken to letting them run their hands under the water for a few seconds, and then turning off the tap. That helps to minimize any potential shenanigans involving the water.
They also don't really give the soap the attention it deserves. Again, you're supposed to scrub your hands with the soap, to kill all of the germs that may have attached themselves to your hands along the way. I, however, have witnessed a young child take a dab of soap between their hands, clap them together a couple of times, and declare victory. I mean, it was funny, but it didn't get their hands any cleaner. It's only once they've at least accomplished some semblance of rubbing their hands together that I turn the water back on.
Drying their hands is the last, but often least-successful steps. As best as I can tell, many munchkins assume the point of the towel is touch it, not so much to rub off the remaining wetness on their hands. I will also allow for the fact that motor function is still developing for some of them, so it's fairly understandable. Still, I have often had to do a "wetness check" with their hands to validate that they have, in fact, dried their hands.
By this point, you might be curious why I started writing about little kids washing their hands. It's not like the Mild Wife and I have suddenly acquired a young child of our own. Sure, we still have nieces and nephews, but with the pandemic going on, we haven't really seen as much of them lately (we are trying our best to socially distance ourselves in order to be safe).
That last sentence, however, provides a hint for why this is on my mind: the virus has made me far more conscious about washing my hands. It's not like I avoided the process before, but now I am far more intentional about the process. However, because I take extra care with the scrubbing process, I have noticed that the water is running for longer than usual. At some point, I decided that I should turn the tap off while I scrub my hands with soap, in order to avoid wasting water.
That last bit should sound familiar: that's exactly the same trick I use with the munchkins. The last time I turned off the water, a sense of deja vu hit me, and I realized that this was a familiar process to me. In short, I had become one of the munchkins that I help wash their hands. I had a good laugh about that when I realized it, and made doubly sure to scrub my hands properly. I had to do it properly, after all.
Oh, and you better believe that I made sure my hands were good and properly dry. I wouldn't want to be hypocritical.
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