Can a Teenage Girl and an 11 Year Old Boy Really Share a Bathroom?

The answer is probably "no." However, they do share a bathroom in our house. At least for now, until Andie and all her toiletries squeeze Jack, his toothbrush and his Axe out into the hall.

Our arrangement works for now as long as the following rules continue to apply:
No Pink Stuff
Happy stripes work great -- red on Andie's side and blue on Jack's side. Each kid gets a little personality on their side, but not too girly. These towels from Garnet Hill are perfect:


Everyone Gets Their Own Trashcan
As everyone knows, boys and girls generate vastly different kinds of trash, and it's best to keep cross-gender exposure to a minimum. These SimpleHuman cans from The Container Store are extra good because they have lids.


Keep Everything Segregated
I bought these kitchen cannisters a several years ago, and repurposed them into the bathroom when we moved into this house

Even if he doesn't really need it, Jack likes to have one of the cannisters for his stuff. Sometimes it's filled with pennies, sometimes with stuff from his spy kit. He doesn't usually fill it with bathroom stuff, but he does like to keep it full, just so Andie doesn't move in.

Make Sure The Boy Gets At Least One Drawer
Although Jack doesn't need his very own drawer for the three grooming items he uses regularly, he still gets one. That way he doesn't have to sort through lip gloss, barrettes, and other girly things to get to his dental floss. And he doesn't have to pick long blonde hairs out of his toothbrush.

No Underwear On the Floor
Both genders are strictly forbidden from abandoning their underwear anywhere but their hamper or their room. No 11 year old boy wants to look at his sister's underwear.

Put the Lock Back on the Door
Remember when the kids were toddlers and you took all the locks off all the doors in the house so they wouldn't lock themselves in their rooms by accident? It's now time to find the lock for the kids bathroom and give it back. While an 11 year old boy doesn't mind having company while he's in the bathroom, his big sister doesn't really like walking in on him by accident.

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