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Smelly Boys
Teaching Young Boys Good Hygiene Habits
By Laura Paul
Having a Talk
When it comes time to have a talk about hygiene, Jasper says it's best if parents have already modeled good grooming skills in the home. "If you don't model that, how do you expect the kids to do it?" she says.
Jasper suggests pulling the child aside to talk about the matter privately when the two of you are involved in an activity other than just talking. "The best time to talk to boys is not a face-to-face conversation – it's when they are doing something and you are doing something, and you are having a 'don't look at me in the eye' conversation," she says. "If you are cooking and they are cleaning up, when they don't look at you directly, we know it's a more effective conversation with boys."