Mum of six's 'unhygienic' bathtime routine creates a social media meltdown

And births its own nickname: 'Bathgate2024'. Would you follow this mum's schedule?

A mum of six has shared her "strict" rules and schedules for her family on TikTok. The video has gone viral because of one controversial bathtime rule, now dubbed 'Bathgate 2024'. 

Utah mum of six, Sharon Johnson, recently shared her strategies for managing a large household, including screen time rules, bathing routines, and chore obligations. This super-mum swears that these rules help keep her home manageable.

“Tech time is only Tuesdays and Thursdays. You get an hour, and you have to check out the laptops so we know who had them last just in case they get lost or broken,” she begins. 

“The kids get an allowance. They get a dollar for every year of how old they are. This means I don't have to remember who I bought, what, when. I can just be like, ‘Okay, do you have any money?’”

Sharon also has a hard and fast “No Sleepovers” rule that many millennial parents are also adopting. Instead, she opts for “late nights. Then I don't have to decide whose house is safe.”

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"Bathgate 2024"

But it was the rules about how bathing and cleanliness work in their household that had the internet in a frenzy, with the clip attracting more than 8 million views and 11k comments.

“Bath and shower days are Sunday and Wednesday. If you need a bath in between that, then absolutely. But otherwise, that's good enough,” Sharon says.

Viewers were quick to call her out for being a 'lazy parent'.

"Two days? I beg your pardon," one commented. 

"If someone told me I could only bathe TWO times a week ... I'm throwing hands," another added. 

"'Everyone needs a daily bath. Why is this so hard to understand?" said a third. 

"How often are they allowed to brush their teeth? Once a week???" joked one parent. 

And finally, one opined, "Very unsanitary ... it should be a mandatory thing to take a shower at least once a day."

Mum of six stirs controversy with her strict bath time schedule. Source: TikTok

RELATED: Mum shares the eight unusual rules for her toddlers

Bathing is a hot topic 

Social media loves to have a debate about kids and their cleanliness. Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard were dragged into Bathgate 2021, saying they only wash their kids when they can smell them, after Ashton Kutcher's appearance on Dax's podcast, Armchair Expert.

"If you can see the dirt on them, clean them," Kutcher explained on the podcast. "Otherwise, there’s no point.” Cue enormous social media backlash.

So while Sharon shouldn't have been too surprised by the negativity, she said it was "disappointing."

"(The topic) is really cultural and has a lot to do with how you were raised," she says. "If you live in the (hot) South, you might have to wash every single day, and if you’ve never been to Utah or the West, you have no concept of how (weather) affects skin."

"We live in an incredibly dry climate and all of my kids have really sensitive skin. If they showered every single day, their skin would be so incredibly raw," she adds in a follow-up video. 

So why Wednesdays and Sundays? The mum of six shares that it's the middle of the week and Sunday because that's when the family formerly attended church. Bathing twice a week, she says, is just a guideline.

And the other rules?

While her bathing choices created the most sensation, according to TikTok users, her other rules for cellphone use, meals and chores were applauded. 

“As an eldest sister who spent a lot of time babysitting for no compensation, THANK YOU for paying them to babysit!” read one comment.

“Nothing wrong with consistency and boundaries, I think a lot of the commenters are spoiled kids or parents whose kids run their homes!” another wrote.

Originally published as Mum of six's 'unhygienic' bathtime routine creates a social media meltdown