Best Gift Ever! A Bidet Will Change Your Life

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I recently celebrated my 50th birthday and received the best, most thoughtful gift and the biggest surprise my husband has ever given me in our 24 years of marriage: a bidet. I love it!

My desire for a bidet began several years ago. I was shopping in an appliance store and used the bathroom. As soon as I walked into the stall, I knew something was different. The seat on the toilet was shaped a little odd and there was a control panel on the wall next to the toilet. A naturally adventurous and curious person by nature, I pressed every button.

It did not take long for me to realize the beauty and practicality of a bidet. Why weren’t they common in America? I stood in that appliance store discussing the merits of bidets with a contractor and salesman for about 45 minutes. We all agreed that cleaning ourselves without moisture was so wrong. If you had dirt on your arm, you would use a soapy cloth to clean it. We clean baby bottoms with wet wipes and would never just use dry toilet paper, because we are looking directly at the mess and we know it’s going to take some serious moisture to clean it sufficiently. Do we not have the same attitudes towards our own bottoms because we can’t see them?

At the dinner table that evening I broached the subject of bidets with my resident doctor. He totally agreed with my sentiments and noted that so many patients have issues with hemorrhoids, which naturally segued into the fiber talk (see previous posts) and I began to regret bringing up the bidet subject. Nevertheless, I could not forget the lovely feeling of warm water cleaning my nether region… Unfortunately the bidet in question was out of our price range.

Several years later, we took a trip to Italy. Everywhere we stayed had some type of bidet. Even our stay in a convent in Rome included a bidet. The rooms were sparse, with no air conditioning and no television, but they STILL had a bidet! Clearly the Italians felt that this was a basic necessity.

When we retuned to Ohio, I began to feel dirty and ashamed when it came to adequate hygiene. I researched bidets and noticed that they had certainly come down quite a bit in price and many options were much more widely available in America. You could even get one at Costco or on Amazon. But my husband kept poopooing (pun fully intended) the expense, since we had just taken the trip of a lifetime and now needed to conserve our cash. Little did I know he was secretly contacting a plumber to surprise me for my birthday.

There are now so many readily available options for bidets and they range in price from $40 to thousands. Some just attach to your existing toilet seat and some require plumbing and electricity. Some warm the water and even the seat for that extra special experience. No matter how much you spend, what they all have in common is the absolutely necessary moisture needed to keep you squeaky clean. Every single time I use mine I cannot believe I lived without it for so long. Best birthday ever!

Kohler bidet