Why I Chose Paper Soap Over Sanitizer for My Child

By mukta - Updated: August 29, 2019

As a mother, I am very particular about hygiene and cleanliness. So I always make sure that my daughter follows certain good habits, like washing hands after going to the washroom, and even before a meal.

Maintaining hygiene and cleanliness in the house is easy, but how can we make sure that our children maintain hygiene in school as well? I know in school, teachers are strict and remind students to wash their hands before eating food. My little daughter joined a school recently, and I was worried about personal hygiene. So initially I handed her a sanitised and carefully taught her how to open the cap and how much drops to use.

All was going well till I found the empty bottle of sanitizer in a week. I calmly asked her, “Dear, how did you finish it so soon?” She answered, “Mummy, what can I do, everyone shares it?” I understood that she shares a lot of stuff, but one day when I saw the sanitiser bottle filled with water, I was angry.

She was also nervous and said, “Mummy, a girl did this.” The next morning, my husband handed her another sanitizer bottle. She happily took it and went to school. But when she returned home, she was scared and cried. She said, “Mummy, I lost the bottle”. I understood that she must have kept in her pocket and lost while playing in the school ground. But this time, my husband and I didn’t give her another bottle of a sanitizer.

All of us are taught in school to share things with each other, and I believe my little girl did the same. But some kids took advantage of her. They must have said things like, “You are not my friend if you don’t share this.” And so my girl would have given it to them. I can’t do anything about those children and nor did I say anything to my girl – she is just a kid. Scolding children or beating them is not a solution. When kids are too young, we shouldn’t give them costly things. I stopped giving costly stuff to my daughter.
I switched from sanitizer to paper soap.

It’s important to understand your children. Instead of arguing or scolding your child, I think we should look for solutions. And in my case paper soap was best. It is not as attractive as a sanitizer, so my child’s friends don’t want to share it. It is also inexpensive and works way better than a sanitiser!

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