Curtis
Maren:
Two smells immediately come to mind when I think of the bathroom: Zest soap and Oscar's green shampoo that filled the bathroom several hours after he got a bath with it's medicinal smell.
Dad was in charge of bathing us when we were small. I remember every time initially not wanting to take a bath, but that I always enjoyed it once I got in there, playing with a washcloth and/or sloshing water around to see how big of waves I could make.
Washing the pets was never fun. Even if I was downstairs, I distinctly remember hearing Oscar whining and struggling in the bathtub as Dad bathed him. But it was satisfying to help brush his fur afterward and more pleasant to pet him when he didn't have matted fur or little weeds stuck all over him.
The few times that we attempted to bathe a cat were pretty disastrous and ended with someone bleeding from multiple scratches.
We went through many a bar of Zest soap through the years. We didn't waste a single piece of that stuff. When it got too small to use properly, it would be stuck to a new bar on the plastic spiky soap dishes we had.
I remember the bathroom getting a makeover perhaps when I was in Jr. High, maybe when Marné was home from her mission and was available to help with her sense of design. I remember a navy blue carpet going in as well as a new ceramic blue and white toothbrush cup and a proper matching soap dish that really "dressed up" the bathroom. Oh, and a fuzzy toilet seat cover that matched the new carpet, of course.
Many a zit was popped while looking into that mirror. I know I'm not the only one that can testify to that.
Dad:
I didn't spend much time in the upstairs bathroom. I used it to give Oscar his baths in there. Oscar used to smell really bad, especially when he spent much time outside. He didn't like his baths, so I had to carry him upstairs and physically place him in the tub. He would give me dirty looks and try to escape, so I had to shut the bathroom door to keep him there. After he was bathed and dried off, he was a happy camper, and he would bound down the stairs in two or three leaps.
Another thing I did in the bathroom was bathing you kids when you were babies. This gave us some one on one time together and it was also a good time for me to unwind after a stressful day at work. It was also a good way to help Mom as she was usually fixing dinner at the time.
Cary:
The upstairs bathroom can't be described without the nightly dialogue that echoed off it's reflective walls, "I've been giving baths for 15 years!", or a slightly different number depending where in the procession of the Judd children you fall.For as many details as I remember from the other rooms, I have a hard time remembering pre-Netherlands makeover (complete with faux-Delft soap dish & toothbrush holder). I think I was probably 15 or 16 years old when this happened and can't remember there ever being a shower curtain before that.
The thing I remember most was having a boom box in there that I'd blast to get psyched up for the torture of Los Cerritos. I think Metallica's "Ride The Lightening" (on the bleak days) and "Master of Puppets" (for the days I wanted to go in with a good attitude) got played no less than 400 times each. Metal or die.
Corey:
This was a busy, well used bathroom. We had several carpets in here over the years, all of which got dirty and worn long before they were replaced. The tub/shower was a fiberglass insert and the drain stopper was out for many years. I remember washing Oscar in the tub and then fishing all of his hair out of the drain. He hated baths so much. I also remember making "potions" in the sink, which were always finished with that toilet cleaner that bubbled when it hit water. There was always a broken towel bar or a hole in the wall from the door knob. I can't count the number of times I cleaned this bathroom, even though it always seemed dirty with 5 kids sharing it.
