Right now I have three teenager daughters living at home. Anyone who has at least one teen girl knows what this means. For moms and dads still changing diapers or holding their daughter upright while she learns to rider a two-wheeler, enjoy these simpler times.
What having a teenager girl — or two, or three — around the house means is that parents never get more than ten seconds of peace and quiet, clothes are strewn about like the local Forever 21 just exploded, you worry about boyfriends and underage drinking, and the water bill costs as much as the food bill.
One day I opened the water bill and saw that it was $30 more than the month before. I checked the handy little graph they provide and saw that my girls were using so much water that within a year’s time they may use enough water to fill the Grand Canyon.
It was family meeting time! I sat all my girls down and talked to them about water conservation. They huffed and puffed and assured me there was no way on earth they could take less than a 30-45 minute shower.
Then, the excuses started: “I have to let my conditioner set in!” “I have to shave my legs!” “That’s the only place where I can think!” I have to admit I agreed with the last one there. I was outnumbered… but I wasn’t outsmarted.
I took a trip to my local Home Depot and purchased two low-flow shower heads. They were less than $5 and the head is no bigger around than a quarter. I bought a roll of plumber’s tape and already had a wrench at home. I was all set.
While the kids were at school I grabbed my supplies and put the new shower heads on. It was a snap to do. When one of my daughters took a shower she noticed something was amiss and mentioned it to me, then quickly spread the word to her sisters. I explained why we needed to cut down on the bills (as if I hadn’t already done that a thousand times before), and they all accepted this change, albeit not with a smile.
Mom won this round. The girls still get to take their long showers, but my water bill has been slashed by more than I imagined it would. Now, if I could just get them to wash full loads of clothes! That’s my next task.