All I Want Is ONE uninterrupted shower...........

I did not take a shower on Mother’s Day. I wasn’t terribly dirty anyway, but I do enjoy a daily shower. Whether it be a quick sprinkle or a long steamy rinse a daily shower is sometimes the only peaceful part of my day.

For the past 22 years I have been ultimately responsible for a young tender child. My youngest is now 5 years old. He is learning, some days quicker than others, how to politely interrupt conversations and activities. However he has not fully grasped the concept of my daily shower time. We have addressed this many times over the years. I have always told my children you may interrupt someone when they are using the bathroom ONLY if there is an emergency. As a family we have reviewed what exactly constitutes an emergency-many times over. Still there is a knock at the bathroom door just as I lather up, my heart momentarily sinks into my big toe as my mind runs wild with every possible gruesome emergency it can produce. My 5 year-old pops his head around the bathroom door and inaudibly mumbles something. I continue to panic and ask him “Is there an emergency!” “no” he replies “it’s just that……” “OUT!” I yell “we will talk when I am out of the bathroom!”. I am cranky now….cranky, cranky, cranky. My peaceful moment for the day has been stolen yet again.

Over the years I have prepared my mind for just such a daily occurrence. Sometimes while showering my mind enters a peaceful bliss and I completely forget there are children on the other side of the door. Only to be yanked back to reality by a young voice asking if he can have a banana! Occasionally I can get all the way through a shower uninterrupted but I have yet to make it all the way through the drying off and dressing process with out someone needing something immediate from me.

Prior to my daily shower I have planned activities for my kids and there has been relentless reminders. I have tried everything I can think of to remedy this situation even the desperate abusing of the time out chair. My child came to the bathroom to ask “When can I get out of time-out?”



The decision was made years ago that I would not shower on my Day, to avoid any signs of Cranky Mommy Syndrome on Mother’s Day. I will continue this practice until my boys finally “get it” and by then my grandchildren will be around to take my children’s place. I can almost hear their sweet voices now “Grammie can I have a banana?”