Back in the early 1980’s, when I was 5 or 6 years old, my parents had finished construction on the ground floor of their very first home. My mom was pregnant with my brother and they were anxious to move in. We would live downstairs as construction continued in order to finish the upstairs bedrooms and bathroom.
For more than a year or two, this family of four shared one bathroom. It was simplistic at its core, not having to run up and down the stairs between bathrooms – all of the things we needed to keep ourselves clean and hygienically maintained (toothbrushes, floss, towels, the staple Ivory soap) were centrally located in one spot.
In retrospect, I’m sure it wasn’t optimal for my parents, having little kids sneak in and flush the toilet, sending a torrent of cold water through the shower head just as they’d begun to relax – but they could see the light at the end of the tunnel. The ‘light’ was the completed upstairs – sending me and my brother out of their hair, at least on a temporary basis.
Having to share one bathroom didn’t seem like the end of the world, however once the second bathroom opened up – we all wondered how we survived without it.
Cut to present day. Times have changed. Family dynamics and expectations have changed. I can’t fathom the idea of not having 3 and a half bathrooms for our family of five (almost six). When we moved into our house, one of the biggest selling points was that it had space for EVERYONE.
NEVER would my wife and I have to endure the same torture of sharing one bathroom, having toothpaste shrapnel sprayed across our vanity mirror, toilets clogged with baby wipes or that dreaded torrent of cold water hit us across the back of the neck, just as we got comfortable in the shower.
But alas, here we are – all sharing one bathroom. Even though we’ve spent countless hours and unquantifiable amounts of energy equipping each individual bathroom with their own color palette of towels and mats, framed mementos and soothing air fresheners – they keep showing up in our space. Our bathroom has a revolving door…
I’m mystified as to what our kids find so alluring about our master bathroom. Is it the simple idea my wife and I are there? Is it because we have a big tub with jets? Or is it that our towels are fluffy and folded on the rack and we have pure, clean Ivory soap and body wash in the shower?
Ivory has been a staple in my bathroom for close to 42 years, but the reality is they’ve been ‘the Original Gentle Family Brand’ for so long. They’ve been keeping families clean for 138 years – the Ivory formula and scent was created in 1879 – many, many generations ago. One of my favorite things about Ivory is the bar soap never sinks to the bottom…
…I love how some things never change.
The Ivory Original Body Wash has a new, gentle formula free of dyes and heavy perfumes offering the gentle clean, trusted for generations. Me and the boys are turning heads with the luxurious Ivory Free & Gentle Body Wash with Pear & Sandalwood. Little side note: The body wash includes the #1 Dermatologist-Recommended moisturizing ingredient.
I wonder if my grandparents and great grandparents suffered the same bathroom struggle? I’m guessing it was more (or less) complicated back then. They probably fought over who was hogging the outhouse and who drew the short straw to boil the next pitcher of water to fill the tub…
If history has shown me anything – Ivory will be there for my kids when they eventually get married, have children of their own and look for their own ‘light’ at the end of the tunnel….all while sharing that ONE simple bathroom…even though they have six.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This has been a sponsored post in conjunction with Ivory, however the nostalgia continues to be mine. For more information on the pure and gentle cleaning power of Ivory, check them out on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Ivory. The opinions and text are all mine.
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