Talking about zits

As a home with three teenagers it was time for a conversation about zits. So my wife bought skin cleanser – a face wash with an active ingredient to fight the buildup of bacteria on our children’s faces.

Some areas of life have been dramatically altered since we were teens – has anyone walked across the room to change the channel on a TV recently, been unable to move away from the phone base due to the length of the cord, or gone to the library to look at an atlas?

Other things really don’t change.  When I was growing up I was told that I could reduce the number of zits by doing three things: 1) Washing my face regularly, 2) Not touching my face with my hands, and 3) Avoiding greasy foods and chocolate (that’s just crazy!).

Now I’m not talking about serious acne problems, just the typical teenage experience.  If you go online and research “zits” – something we couldn’t do when we were teens – you’ll see that the advice remains pretty much the same.  For #3 above, substitute “Eat a balanced diet and avoid greasy food, starchy foods, and chocolate” (isn’t this pretty much the American diet these days?).  Add #4, “Get plenty of sleep so that your hormones are as balanced as possible and your body is prepared to fight the acne-causing bacteria on your skin.”  And #5, “Avoid cheap makeup and don’t wear it to bed” (not something with which I ever had to deal).

You pick your top remedies, but don’t avoid the conversation.  Your kids will benefit from knowing that you had zits when you were young and that you may actually have some wisdom in dealing with them.  Just make sure that the focus is on helping them through one of the natural difficulties of life without focusing on issues of appearance or beauty as the ultimate objective.  This is just another opportunity for them to learn how to keep things in perspective.

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