Spa Day Takes Up Most Of The Afternoon

Once a month we have Spa Day here at the house. Saturday or Sunday. It gobbles up most of the afternoon. Three kids. It's a project and a half. We go through most of our towels. The floor has to be dry mopped after. A load of laundry (towels and washcloths) to follow. A few hours later, another load of laundry as the kids like to curl up in their blankets afterwards. While still wet. Or, roll around on our bed before snuggling in their blanket bungalows.

While there are a couple of local grooming places around here that we fully trust, and we adore the staff, most of the time, our kids get "the works" right here at home. It keeps expenses down for us. Having 3 kids is expensive. Medical expenses. Food. Flea, tick and heartworm preventative. Vaccinations. The list goes on. While we budget our money to meet these expenses and have an emergency fund, it helps to have Spa Day at home. It saves us about $150 a month.

The shampoo and conditioning spray we use isn't cheap. However, it's gentle on their skin and loaded with natural conditioners. In February, after adopting Lobo, who needs a head to tail trim once a month, we purchased a decent pair of grooming clippers. We also invested in a good pair of nail clippers. I'm not a professional groomer by any means, but I've had some training and experience. It's enough to trim Lobo every month with satisfactory results.

Our Spa Day afternoon starts with Lobo getting his thick fur trimmed. Head to toes. To this day, we're still amazed at how thick his fur is. It's like soft lamb fur.

We cold have made several adult sweaters by now.

Once done, we trim up his nails. The next on the grooming table is Sophie. She's got a little Cairn Terrier in her which produces lengthier, wiry hair on her back, belly and feet. It's the only fur covering her body that needs regular trimming. I trim that up with shears. Then, her nails get trimmed. The only thing we have to trim up on Coco are his nails. We used to take him to our local veterinarian hospital to have his nails done. It was a struggle. However, we discovered the ThunderShirt.

We. Love. The. ThunderShirt.

Once the trims are complete, we clean up and fill the sink with warm water. Plenty of bubbles. All of the kids are small enough to get bathed in the sink. I will admit, at 28 pounds, Coco tests the boundaries of the sink. If he stands still, not a problem. If he's in a feisty mood, the counters on each side of the sink get soaked along with the front of my shirt. Lobo and Sophie we bathe without any issues. They enjoy it.

After numerous towel dries, the kids get the zoomies. It happens after each bath. They jump on the bed and roll around. Next stop...the sofa on top of every throw blanket. Then, their doggy beds. More blankets. Our bed. By the time we're done bathing them all, most of the blankets in the house are damp and it smells like wet dog.

All in all, it takes about 3-4 hours. Add on about 3 more hours for the laundry that follows. Once a month. For us, it's worth the time and effort. They are more relaxed here and, for the most part, they're used to this once-a-month-routine.

Spa. Day. Rocks.