Mum-of-six on why she sends 'stinky' kids to school and skips their bathtimes
By Charlie Duffield
We all know that life as a parent is non-stop and hectic - and even more so if you have a big brood with many children to look after. But how far would you go to save time and make life a little easier?
Australian blogger Constance Hall has revealed she doesn’t make her children wash every day as skipping a bath “won’t kill them”.
The mum-of-six has devised an unconventional way to save time, by letting her children wash only three times a week.
She also cuts corners by letting her kids “feast with the hands”.
Speaking to Mama Mia she penned her survival guide for big families and said: "They don’t have to bath or shower every day.
"They can quite often skip that part of the routine if it’s getting everyone down. I’m like, “Fine, stinky, go to school and gross everyone out”.
"I personally can’t be f***ed bathing everyone every night."
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She then went on to justify her decision by citing the American Academy of Dermatology, which says that unless they are sweaty, dirty or suffering a skin condition, children aged between six and 11 don’t need to wash more than once or twice a week.
Ms Hall added: "I know it makes them look more loveable when they are all clean and smell fresh, but really, skipping a night bath or morning shower a couple of times a week won’t kill them.”
The blogger went on to discuss the reality of mealtimes in her big family.
She said: "Dishes are the worst part of dinner. In other cultures everyone eats with their hands off the same plate.
"Eating should be one of the pleasurable things you share with your kids, not a blur of angry memories.
"So if they don’t eat their dinner, don't stress, try something else, keep trying or just let the turd eat his plain pasta and tomato sauce.
"None of my kids ate anything healthy under seven, they all eat well over seven and they are perfectly healthy."
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Ms Hall also advised having picnics and using coloured-coded buckets to “chuck” each child’s clothes in.
The mum-of-six has a “check-out” time so she can relax and block out her kid’s noises by wearing headphones.
She said: "I can’t respond to the 400 questions a day by six different kids: the fights over whose turn on the iPad it is, or who ruined what. I just can’t. So I block it out.I even put headphones in and tell them “Mummy’s having mummy time.”
In her opinion, parenting is relentless and you owe it to yourself to cut some corners along the way...
“There is almost always an easier option and for the sake of your sanity I beg you to find it,” she said.
