I figure this would be a good question for you beachside dwellers, or those of you in desert-like areas.
My kids have a sandbox. They love to play in it. Playing means throwing sand, laying down in sand, dumping sand on his sister’s head etc. And at 4 and 2, it’s not like the kids listen to you when you say “STOP!”
So that means that MX2 and I have to deal with sand everywhere in the house (there’s a separate rant in here that I’m ignoring, as MX2 is a SAHM). We can sweep up the floors and clean out clothes well enough, buyt how in the name of gollygoshedness do you get sand out a kids’ hair? Neither kid takes a shower and neither really likes getting water dumped on their head, so we do our best washing their hair. I cxan often still feel grit though when rinsing the soap out of their hair. I try and keep powder handy to help clean off their hands and faces etc, but the hair has me stumped.
Man, I wish I had you for a parent when I was little. My mom would just drag us outside, line us up against the wall like criminals in a police lineup, and shoot us with the waterhose at full blast until we were all clean. That way we knew to stay out of the sand when told to
If the hair is short enough, brushing will get rid of most of it. At least you’ll cut down on the amount of sand in the house.
And our kids didn’t much care for water in their faces either until we started swim lessons. Now they are fine with water in the face, which makes washing hair much easier.
In the short term, you could also get an shower attachment for the tub. I had one years ago when I lived in a showerless apartment – it’s basically just a flexible hose with showerhead that screws onto your tub’s faucet (or attaches in some way – kind of depends on the faucet). That may be easier to deal with than the pitcher of water over the head. I know that we found it easier to wash hair at the kitchen sink with the sprayer at times.
My mom did this, too.
We have a very large sand box in our yard. It was here when we moved in. I would not have put it there.
What we do is make the kids shower and wash their hair right after they get done playing in the sand box. My four year old doesn’t like showers so much, so sometimes I can persuade her not to play in the sandbox. Other times I tell her to go have fun and shower with her. She doesn’t mind having her hair washed in the shower when I am with her. I put one foot up on the spout and make a place for her to sit on my leg. I back her under the water and she helps me wash her hair without getting her face wet.
I agree with this one. My kid is five and hates, HATES hair-washing time. We moved into a new place that had one already installed and it’s made all the difference in the world.
We have a shower attachment in the bath and neither kid much likes it. I don’t think the sand is worth the screaming fit. I like the idea of the crish though. I’ll have to look for the right kind. norinew, prevention is what I really want, but I haven’t come up with the right way to demand that my wife strip the kids naked outside and re dress them after they play in the sand box.
I’ll try the brush an dpush the shower thing as well and see what happens.
