OCD and Your Daily Shower Routine

Some years ago now, I lived with a woman who was bipolar and OCD (along with a bunch of other things that got diagnosed later). I have a vivid memory of her coming out of the bathroom after her shower, completely wigging out. She was crying and shaking and almost hyperventalating.

After getting her calmed down, she was able to give an explanation for her fit. It seems, while in the shower, she did not follow her normal routine and had washed her hair after her body.

and?


no, there is no "and"

that was it

I hope you don't think me cold and cruel, but I laughed. Perhaps it helped her snap out of her shakes when I did. She looked at me incredulously and asked, didn't I have a routine I followed when I was in the shower??? I told her I had no idea, as I'd never considered what I did in the shower in that fashion, and probably couldn't tell her what order I did things in if I tried. Furthermore, if I did forget something (which I'm sure, with no routine, I probably did), I would then just jump back into the shower to finish the job, or do it whenever I rememberd while under the spray.

OK, so...

From that point on, that lil nagging voice in the back of my head made me pay attention to how I wash in the shower. So now...I DO have a general shower routine. I do not, however, completely freak out if I mess up and do the wrong thing first. Usually I have a good laugh over it, instead and think back to that day. I even find myself changing up my routine now and then, just to make myself feel less OCD. ;) hehe

Here it is, Minda's Shower Routine (didn't you ALWAYS want to know???)

• Turn the water on (really important for getting clean)
  
• Adjust the temperature (I like it warmish to begin with and then use my toes to make it hotter for most of the shower, and then really freaking cold at the end, which makes hubby call me the Ice Queen)
  
• Enter the shower and get wet (there are probably those people who jump in, get damp and start scrubbing away...personally, I love the warm water streaming down my skin, the steam starting to rise as I raise the temperature of the water...)
  
• Wash my face (I probably kill my face with this. There are very few soaps that don't make my face break out. I tried going with a special cleanser at the sink before jumping in the shower, but I'm lazy and now I only do that before I go to bed at night.)
  
• Shampoo my hair (I do splurge on good shampoo from the salon. I have very fine hair and it breaks easily)
  
• Condition my hair (leaving it in to rinse later)
  
• Shave (Under arms every day, the rest as needed. I'm part Native American, and my hair just doesn't grow very fast, and it's very fine when it does)
  
• Wash body (I prefer bar soap to liquid soap. I never feel like the liquid is gone. I also prefer softer water to hard water. I don't like to feel slippery when I'm done with a shower--makes me feel like I still have soap on my body. I prefer the squeaky clean feel)
  
• Rinse hair (getting rid of the conditioner)

OK, so that's MY routine! What's yours?