Alexey T. (SLI) about Cleanliness

I can't drive a dirty car—it makes me uncomfortable. It has to be clean; I can wash it every day. If I wash it, it simply feels good, or someone might say, "Wow! What a clean car he has." I feel good when the car is in perfect condition: clean, no leaks, no squeaks.

Another strong childhood memory: I was praised for wearing clean clothes. I never allowed myself to be dirty. I couldn't wear the same thing for a week. I insisted on fresh clothes. I was neat.

A child should be taught hygiene. If a child is dirty, you should say, "That's not nice. Ew, you're so dirty, gross. Do you want me to love you? Let's go take a bath! You’ll be so cute, so fresh, and smell so good..."

You have to teach a child to be clean. I was always clean, neatly dressed. To teach them to brush their teeth, you can say: "Clean teeth are beautiful, and you’ll have them your whole life—you’ll be chewing with them your whole life. If you don’t take care of them, there will be problems... A child with rotten teeth doesn't look nice, and then they’ll fall out, and people won’t even understand what you're saying if you don’t have teeth! What if you want to become an actor, a musician, a singer—people will love seeing your beautiful teeth. And what if your breath smells bad—you have to take care of your teeth so that doesn’t happen."

If you want a child to be neat and clean—they need an example from adults. For as long as I can remember, my mother kept perfect order. Dust was a tragedy. Unwashed dishes were unacceptable!