Six Girls, One Bathroom

We do have more than one bathroom, but the truth of the matter is that our six daughters share one bathroom. So far it's working well, but then again, we only have one in high school. It's funny how in grade school she didn't worry about her hair or even wear make up, but now, now she's up on her own bright and early every morning. She primps and preens and looks so pretty heading off to school. I love the fact that they wear uniforms. It keeps decision making to a minimum.

Okay,  I digress, this is supposed to be a post about how we manage six girls in one bathroom. When we had our addition done in 2009-2010, we also did a few renovations to existing rooms. The girl's bathroom was one of them. Flooring, cupboards, and fixtures were replaced -- with the exception of the toilet because it was only a year or two old (and one of those new not-so-wonderful-because-they-clog-more-often-especially-on-a-septic-bed-low-flow-type-toilets).  Knowing that we we're going to have three more daughters helped us decide the logistics of the new vanity. We had lots of drawers put in.

This allows each girl to have her own drawer and leaves two drawers and a middle section for other girly stuff that does not necessarily belong to one girl in particular. What is in the drawers depends on the girl and their age. I'll give you a peek into two of them.

They are responsible for keeping track of their own stuff. Now if you scroll back up to the top photo, you will see that the counter top is pretty cleared off. Don't let that fool you into thinking they're neat and tidy girls because they are NOT. I often have to clean off that counter top before it drives me crazy. The only difference now is that I don't find two dozen or more hair elastics lying around. Problem solved by those handy dandy carabiner clips (Pinterest again). Santa (smart guy that he is ;oD) gave every girl two carabiner clips (you can just make one out in the drawer photo above) with assorted hair elastics on them. The new rule is: I find a hair elastic lying around, it becomes mine. Eventually I hope to have a drawer full and host an auction, hehehe!

Truthfully, the only girl who actually does her hair in the bathroom is Peach because she does her own. The rest still all get their hair done by Yours Truly. Enter, The Chair again. They come to me with their bush, comb (if needed) and their hair elastics and accessories of choice and I attempt do the requested hair style. Usually it's pretty basic -- a pony, two ponies, a French braid, Katniss braid, but once in awhile, I'm in trouble ;o). Therefore bathroom time is pretty uncluttered at this point as the four youngest are really only in there for some hair brushing and teeth brushing and Peach is waiting for the bus already -- that leaves one who can have some extended bathroom time if desired.

Now, if you have an abundance of females like we do, and not a lot of drawers, don't despair. If you have a linen closet, you can give each girl their own basket and spot on a shelf. (If need be, find a different spot to store those extra linens {many are just seasonal anyways}, or have another shelf built up high in the closet for the linens.) Or, have them transport their basket to and from their room each day. Okay, it's not as ideal, but to keep the squabbling down it's worth it in my humble opinion.

Here's a photo of two usable shelves in the girls' linen closet.

Yes, they're a mess. I think I need to purchase a couple more baskets from the dollar store and that problem will be solved. The brunt of that top stuff is hair product for Peanut's hair, but that's a post for another day. Apparently we also still have way too much hair accessories...

One more thing about six girls in one bathroom. What to do with all those towels. I'm not a fan of them storing their towels in their bedroom because I know where they end up. On the floor!

We zigzagged six hooks down one wall. Each towel has each girl's name on it and they are hung from oldest to youngest. While this isn't ideal as they can get a little stinky in the summer months from hanging so close together, it helps me keep better track of the towels so they can be washed regularly and to know whose is missing -- because if a wet towel is discovered on their bedroom floor, they get to face my wrath ;o). The one thing I want to do with their towels, which hasn't happened yet, is to sew a little loop of bias tape on each towel to make hanging them easier, because with the younger girls especially, the towel often tumbles to the floor the second they turn their back on it to leave the bathroom.

So, in a nutshell, that's how we manage six girls in one bathroom. If you have any other ideas for me, I'd love to hear them -- or questions. Let me know in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them.