What happens in your house?

We have one bathroom and we set a timer for our 13 year old daughter for 12 minutes for a shower. If we didn't set it, she wouldn't be out for 30-45 minutes. But our problem comes in when, once the timer goes off, she stays in there for a good 5-6 minutes longer.

Do your kids have a time limit on their showers?

My husband and I both grew up in households that did, so I guess that's just what we do because that is what we know.

She seems to think we are very unfair and I remind her that I pay the water bill and not her.

Ideas, Suggestion, Comments?

Maybe set the timer, and tell her she can have however long "in" the shower as she wants, but, the water is only going to be on for twelve minutes. Maybe she can plug the tub while the shower runs????

Good Luck. We have no time limit, but, I have to knock on the door often with all mine.....I think they like the warmth of the hot water. DS has actually fallen asleep in the shower before.

__________________
Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

We live in Arizona -- desert. Water is just not something that is to be wasted. I think that living in a desert brings home how valuable water is. If you live in a wet climate, I'm sure it might be harder to bring that point home???

Although I wish his hygiene was a little bit better, I'm happy that my 13 yo son isn't interested enough in girls yet to take a good long shower... heh. He is in and out in less than 10 minutes and doesn't use soap or scrub... He's just in there to warm up and wake up in the morning. Silly boy.

Ds is 17 and on school days hes got it down to about 10-15 minutes.. lol weekends He cant find the shower unless theres a girl involved in his plans

__________________


"Never loan your car to someone you have given birth too"

Set the timer for 6 minutes.

We haven't had a problem with excessively long showers. I'm just grateful my 17 year DS has decided to take one on a regular basis!

DD 14 showers at night and it is a good thing because she will stay in the shower till the water runs cold. The rest of the family showers in the morning and we are in and out people. My son 12 enjoys alittle longer shower but not as long as his sister

You could do what my Dad did when we were growing up- he just used to shut off the hot water if you were in for too long

__________________
Mom to Katie 1/95 and Sara 5/97

I have a 19 yr old dd and we have been going through her excessive showers for years. No matter what I do she will stay in there for a minimum of 30 min. I have shut off the water.. shut off the hot water etc.. If I shut off hot water she will shut it off and stay in there till I turn it back on again. Claiming she has soap in her hair. I know when she moves out my water bill will be drastically reduced. I have threatened to make her pay the water bill. I guess I should maybe it would cut her down. It is frustrating. I know what you mean.

We have the same problem with out DS 16. Most every night he has a 30 minute shower. I have done the knocking on the door and it just doesn't work. We have started cutting the water off. Which inturns starts a big arguement. We have decided to just drop it for now. It's just not worth the fight.

__________________
My MySpace Page

To Leave Me FeedBack Click HERE

Growing up, we had a family of 12 and 2 full baths. My dad installed a timer that turned the water off after the allotted time. Pretty clever but frustrating when you have a head full of shampoo and no water. The timer was in the hall, out of reach to add more time.

Rebecca

My dd is 14 and she takes long showers too, if anyone one else wants to take one we go in before her,
and then she can take as long as she wants till the water heater busts LOL.
my oldest is quick she is in and out in 5-6 min ..............

__________________
RIP Chibby my chinchilla 10/02/09

We set timers.....they each get 10 minutes, with 6 kids and myself there is only so much hot water to go around....

__________________
"You can never really pay back. You can only pay forward."

Wayne Woodrow “Woody” Hayes

O-H-I-O

my DS who is 8 will stay in forever if I let him. Growing up, we took 5-7 min showers tops. We would get a "lecture" if we stayed longer and if the water bill was excessive, we might have to do extra work to help " pay" it off. I have been looking for a timer that shuts off the water when it goes off. Haven't found one yet.

__________________
Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

I found a shower manager but they are out of stock until after December. It attaches to your showerhead.

It's funny to see everyone's responses. I posted this question on a different website message board last night and got totally flamed for timing my daughter's showers and how dare I?

I'm glad to see everyone is much more level-headed here and doesn't think I am a bad mom!

=)

Luckily my 2 teen ds only take about 5-10 mins. There are no girlfriends in the picture yet. Right now, where we are, there is a water shortage. The water companies are asking people to conserve as much as we can on top of the restrictions in place. If we don't get any rain soon the restrictions will get worse. We are at level 3 restrictions and by the end of the year, with no rain, we will be at level 4. I live in South Carolina. We have no choice but to take short showers.
Judy

Where do you order that show manager?? I need one, too.

Why would someone flame you for conserving water??? I guess they don't see it that way.

__________________
Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

Shower Manager - Shower Timer

thanks. For anyone interested, according to the video, they run about $120.

__________________
Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

We have 5 girls and each one gets a time given to them. My older two 12 and 10 have a shower in their bedroom and for the most part they listen when it comes to the time restrictions. They are given 10 minutes each to take a shower which is plenty of time. They have gone to camp before where the gave them only 3 minutes each. LOL My twins who are 8 and the youngest who is 4 they shower in the guest bathroom. They each get 10 minutes also. Since we bought this house we are now in the city and you have to pay for water. We have always lived in the country and had a well....so this is a big change for them. But overall it was an easy change for them.

__________________
Give me the wisdom and grace to understand

Tracy S
Mommy to 5 little girls
Victoria
Alyssa
Samantha & Selena
Malaya
Tracy_s5girls@yahoo.com

Once the timer runs out, won't they just turn the water off and then back on? Just a thought that popped into my head. LOL.

With the drought that is happening all around, I would think everyone would try to conserve all they could. before our daughter moved out to college, she would take a shower for at least 10 min. now that there is a drought and she is away in college, The college has put timers on the showers and they get 8 min 's and thats it. then the water is shut off for at least 20 min. so now she dont waste as much water as she did. I didnt think the 10 min was to bad for a girl with hair down to her butt. but she has learned to get faster or be stuck with a soapy head. lol.
we have a well and a few yrs ago during another bad drought, we got down to less than a foot of water. that aint much at all. we had to either go to my moms house ( 30 min. away) and take a bath or take spit baths on some days and me and booboo ( my hubby) shared a shower. That I must admit was ALOT of fun!

__________________
·´`·.(*·.¸(`·.¸ ¸.·´)¸.·*).·´`·
«·´¨*·.¸¸. Jo ¸¸.·*¨`·»
«·´`·.(¸.·´(¸.·* *·.¸)`·.¸).·´`·»


Please leave feedback for me here.
http://www.mycoupons.com/boards/g-l/...-littlejo.html



gretchengirl@gmail.com

http://lifewithlittlejo.blogspot.com/

There's too many of us to be able to linger in the shower, and everyone has a set time when they *can* even be in the bathroom for showers. (we've had to have some take theirs at night, some in the morning, or nobody would ever get out in the morning).
Kids have a 5 min limit, another 5 mins to get outta the bathroom.
When someone has gone over their limit, my evil children freeze em out by turning the hot water on full blast in the kitchen };-)

MZ

When I was a teenager, the most time consuming shower activities were shaving your legs and shampooing/rinsing/conditioning your hair.

If you have a tub she can sit on the side and shave, before she gets in the shower which uses less water and is safer. And, ask her to shampoo her hair FIRST, then she has all the rest of her shower to rinse the soap out.

We have three teenagers and the least of my worries is how long they shower. Pick your battles.

That was a great "zinger". And I agree 100%. Choose your battles is my mantra....keep an eye on the big picture (values, morals, education) and if all is well, I try not to sweat the little stuff...

But that said, maybe you can put a flow restrictor on the shower head.

cj/

__________________
I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

Drought conditions = conservation... which I believe is an important aspect of child-rearing. I do know that we all look at things differently partly based on where we live or how we were raised or ???

Yes, we choose our battles. We need water in order to live.

Great idea on the flow restricter, CJ.

I get what you're saying, Cuthie, but I thought the OP was speaking about one child in her household who was taking an extra 5-6 minutes on her daily shower and with the timer, is being made aware that water conservation is important. Taken on whole, that doesn't seem to be a huge, huge deal - to me. Just my opinion, know what I mean?

A flow restrictor might conserve while allowing her the time she would like to take her shower.

cj/

ETA - I'm sure there is a regional aspect to water conservation. The big deal here is water bans for sprinklers, car washing, pool filling, etc (visible, outside water use) Nothing irks me more than folks with their sprinkler systems running while it's raining or has just rained. Ugh.

__________________
I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

In our house, we have 3 children and only one is a problem with taking a long shower. Most of the time I dont say much, unless we need to conserve like during times of drought or a ton of rain, because we have a septic system that is really old and we are babying it.

When everyone has to shower, we make her go last. That makes her mad, but we all wont get hot water or time to shower if we dont do it that way.

CJ, of course! but, water waste does add up quickly and yes, it is probably one of the lesser battles with a teen! LOL.

That said, we see so much waste here in Arizona!!! One only has to visit Scottsdale and look around at the lakes*, pools, and golf courses* to get an idea of what water waste is all about -- especially in the summertime when the temps are in the 100++ degree range and you can actually see the water evaporating into the atmosphere!

We are building a home and are going to use *grey water in every way that we can. We will have the water from the washing machine, shower, dishwasher, kitchen sink, bathroom sinks... flow into a holding tank that we will use for watering the garden and trees. There will be a T in the pipe so that we can opt for fresh water as needed...

We live in the desert. I was raised in the desert... Conservation is a really important aspect of life and we have taught the kids from early on not to waste water. It's just the way it is.


*grey water = recycled water

Amen to that! Soon enough they will be gone from your nest and you will miss the sound of the shower running forever.....

I usually pick my battles but with the drought and the water restrictions going o step 4 , this is a battle I HAVE to pick now . water is a MUST and when the county starts step 4, that means to many people have not conserved and they are now picking the battles instead of the parents.

__________________
·´`·.(*·.¸(`·.¸ ¸.·´)¸.·*).·´`·
«·´¨*·.¸¸. Jo ¸¸.·*¨`·»
«·´`·.(¸.·´(¸.·* *·.¸)`·.¸).·´`·»


Please leave feedback for me here.
http://www.mycoupons.com/boards/g-l/...-littlejo.html



gretchengirl@gmail.com

http://lifewithlittlejo.blogspot.com/