Five Minute Life Lessons » Personal Hygiene

Personal Hygiene Practice

lifeskills — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:00:56 +0000

Yesterday we went over the “Stuff to Check When You Wash Your Hands” Checklist. Here it is again, in case you forgot.

When you wash your hands, use the mirror to make sure that your…

Hair looks nice
Teeth are free of any bits from your last meal
Face is clean
Clothes are stain-, spot-, dirt-, and rip-free
Fingernails are clean (don’t need the mirror for that one!)

The practice today is to head straight to a mirror and go through the checklist. Might as well wash your hands while you’re there!

When You Wash Your Hands…

lifeskills — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 10:00:59 +0000

It is important to keep your hands clean. Washing our hands helps stop the spread of germs we may get from playing with others, opening doors, or playing with toys others have played with. It also washes off any substance that we have handled that we are not supposed to eat.

Washing hands is especially important before a meal or snack and after we have used the bathroom. That means we will be washing our hands several times a day. When we wash our hands, we are generally in a bathroom in front of a mirror. While we are there, there are a few things we can do to make sure we are looking our best.

Use the mirror to make sure that your…

Hair looks nice
Teeth are free of any bits from your last meal
Face is clean
Clothes are stain-, spot-, dirt-, and rip-free
Fingernails are clean (don’t need the mirror for that one!)

Take care of anything that may need to be done. Then you are on your way!

Don’t Do This In Public!

lifeskills — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:00:50 +0000

While personal hygiene is important, there are many acts of personal hygiene that are best done in private. Wait until you are alone, either in a restroom or off by yourself before taking care of the following items.

•   Picking something out of your teeth
•   Brushing your hair
•   Applying make-up, lipstick is often acceptable to apply in public
•   Getting something out from under your fingernails
•   Checking yourself for bad breath or body odor
•   Adjusting pants or undergarments

While some of these may not seem like a very big deal, some find them rude and offensive to do in public.

Bad Breath Bonus:

Many times we cannot tell when we have body odor or bad breath. When we keep up with personal hygiene practices daily, we don’t need to worry about it. But here are a few ways to know if you have bad breath:

Bad Breath Test #1:

Cup both of your hands around your nose and mouth. Breathe out through your mouth and see how it smells.

Bad Breath Test #2:
Lick the inside of your wrist. Wait 10 seconds and see if your wrist has an odor. That odor is the same odor of your breath.

Daily Hygiene

lifeskills — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:00:38 +0000

There are some preventative things we can do every day to keep us looking and smelling fresh. When we look clean, we not only feel better, but those around us will not be distracted from our sparkling personalities by body odor, bad breath, or three-day-old jelly on our faces.

Daily hygiene habits

Shower or bathe regularly. People don’t notice when they exude an odor. I have especially found this true with those who smoke. They can’t smell the smoke, but those around them can.
Deodorant can also help prevent body odor. It is not a substitute for the shower because it doesn’t work too well when body odor is already present. Put it on after a shower, before there is a body odor problem.
Change clothing, especially undergarments, daily.
Brush your teeth twice a day. It also helps to clean your tongue by brushing it too. Don’t forget to floss.
Keep fingernails and toenails trimmed and looking nice and clean. If you wear nail polish, remove it once it starts chipping.
Wash your hands before eating and after using the restroom. This prevents the spread of germs and viruses that can cause illness.
Keep clothing, shoes, socks, backpacks, purses, belts, etc. in good condition, clean and free of rips.

Personal Hygiene

lifeskills — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 10:00:14 +0000

When we discuss manners, one of our objectives is to make others feel comfortable. As part of that objective, this week we will be discussing a topic that while, very personal, also goes a long way to helping others feel comfortable around us.

This week we are to talk about personal hygiene.

Personal hygiene involves the things we do to keep ourselves healthy and clean.

There are a couple of reasons personal hygiene is important.

Taking care of our bodies helps keep us healthier.
Being clean and healthy just feels better.
Having a clean and healthy personal appearance helps us put our best selves forward.

Like it or not, people make instant judgments about others when they meet them. Some of the judgments have to do with how the other person acts, but others have to do with how the person looks…and smells.

It is not about having the perfect nose or the right hair color. It is about how you keep yourself.

People just tend to steer away from people who are dirty and smell bad. You may be the most kind, wonderful person in the world, but if your clothes are torn and dirty, your breath smells, your hair is greasy and messy, and your body is dirty and stinky, people may never know how wonderful you are.

I can hear some of you out there saying, “But I am not supposed to care what others think of me.” And that is true. We must let our own light shine and be who we are, following our own values and dreams.

But why not just do a few things each day to keep yourself healthy, feel better, and make those around you feel comfortable?

Also, be aware of the messages you intend to send with your look. Clothing, make-up, and accessories help send our signal to the world of who we are. Decide the message you want to send and dress accordingly.