Hygiene lessons to teach your tween daughter

As a former educator and frequent volunteer in my daughter’s elementary school classroom, I know one thing for sure.  Tweens stink. Like, for real.

As I became a teen, I appreciated knowing how to keep myself clean and look nice, especially when I discovered not all of my girlfriends knew how to do that.

There are things that women know because we’ve been on the earth longer, we’ve read books and magazines, and know we’re experts in personal hygiene.

ALWAYS WIPE FROM FRONT TO BACK. Make sure your daughter knows that she should never wipe from her butt to her vagina. She could spread feces into her vagina and encourage infection

FLOSS DAILY. Everyone knows that they need to brush their teeth. We need to talk about flossing more, though. Ask her what she thinks her breath would smell like with rotting food sitting in her mouth. See? Flossing is important.

TAKE THE TIME TO WASH YOUR FACE. Show your daughter how to take good care of her face, especially as she heads into the acne years. Remind her to take her time, moisturize properly, and she’ll keep breakouts to a minimum.

DON’T OVERDO THE PERFUME. Teach your daughter that a little can go a long way. Tell her that if she puts too much on, it’s overpowering and does the opposite of what she wants to do by spritzing on her perfume in the first place.

YOU CAN PUT ON LOTION MULTIPLE TIMES A DAY. My daughter used to only put lotion on after a shower. She didn’t realize that she should watch for dry skin and put on more lotion even if wasn’t right after she had just bathed.

KEEP YOUR FINGERNAILS CLEAN. I’m so strict when it comes to nails. No long nails. No chipped polish We talked about spreading germs and bacteria and how nails that aren’t groomed can be a carrier for those things..

As moms of daughters, we can make this time a lot easier by thinking about what our girls are going to need to know ahead of time. Giving them hygiene lessons is one of the most important things we can do for our daughters.