The Small Stuff: A Shower

Don’t sweat the small stuff, they say. But sometimes it’s the small stuff that can break you, the proverbial final straw. And when greater problems seem unsolvable, focusing on “the small stuff” is sometimes all you can do. Lesser problems can be more approachable, less overwhelming, and maybe even solvable.

So don’t think I’m kidding when I describe the source of my recent elation. It deserves to stand alone in its glory.

I have a shower.

I have my own shower. I share it only with Baby. And this isn’t just a bucket of water, a spray bottle, or a spitting camel. This is a veritable shower. It is a work of art. And it is mine.

Let me tell you what it is not. It is not the shower that I have been sharing with my husband’s family since September. It is not accessible only through my parents-in-law’s bedroom. It doesn’t smell like cigarettes. The floor isn’t daily coated with mud. It does not require a 20 minute wait for the boiler to heat the water. It is not inhabited by mosquitoes.

It is adjacent instead to my bedroom. I can keep it as clean as I like. I have both hot water and cold, on demand. It is lovely.

• This means there will be no more awkward trespassing on my father-in-law while he watches TV in bed.
• Also, no more sacrificing hygiene to avoid feeling like a trespasser.
• I no longer must get fully dressed before showering (so I can pass through public domain on the way to the downstairs shower and while waiting for the boiler.)
• I no longer have to carry all my toiletries to and from the shower with me – I can leave them where I’ll need them.
• I can keep it clean – of cigarette ash, of mud, of my brother-in-law’s dirty underwear.
• I no longer need expose myself to the evil resident Shower Mosquitoes.

I now firmly believe that a room of one’s own should be accompanied by a bathroom of one’s own.

Mad props to Baby for his excellent handiwork.

So maybe this makes me sound like a spoiled princess, or probably just very American. But if sharing a bathroom were it, I could probably keep it up. Having my whole life tossed up and roughly shaken, I’ll count my victories when I can. I’ll celebrate the small stuff.

Here are a few pics of my precious new shower and, for good measure, one of the kitchen walls, and another of the kitchen floor.