Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Thinking Outside the Bath


It was summertime almost a decade ago.  I was a workin’ mama with toddlers in the house.  The night was no different than most.  Dinner was done and we were making the most of the remaining daylight. 

Then it came.  My nightly torture:  Bathtime.

Bathtime meant prying the baby girl’s arms from the jungle gym and yanking the baby boy from the blowup pool.  Then lots of “Mommy I got soap in my eyes.” Followed by, “No you can’t dump the water on the floor.”
If the dimming sky didn’t remind me that Bathtime was near, the family alarm clock would.
Husband: “You need to give the kids a bath tonight.”
Me: “I just gave them one last night.”
Husband:  “They’ve been running around all day.  They look like sweaty little pigs.”
Me: “Its baby sweat.  It doesn’t even smell.”

The kids are so smart.  Show one chink in the parental armor and they dig in with their sharp little nails.  “I don’t want to take a bath.”  Then the parrot, “Me too.”  Then the Husband, “Why aren’t the kids in the bath yet?”

At the end of Bathtime, I was the only one ready for bed.

I could have consulted with parenting.com article on Making Bathtime Fun Again.   I could have bought more bath toys, given formal notification before pouring water over their heads, or filled the bath with only an inch of water.  Really?

Maybe I should have consulted my mother.  You know her generation had to bathe their children in water carried in from the well.  What do we modern-moms have to complain about?

So, what did I do? 

I threw out the advice and did it my way.  I brought the bath out to them.  I placed the blowup baby pool on the deck and filled it with warm water (used a good old fashioned hose for that).  Then, I handed them a bottle of no-tears baby shampoo, sat on a lounge chair with a glass of wine and watched the magic.  The next night we used the kitchen sink.

Bathtime turned into bubbles, laughter and shampoo-hair dos. 

From that night on, I had the cleanest kids on the block.  And I never had to clean the tub again.  Win-Win.

How do you think outside the bath?

Thanks for stopping by.
Please support me with your honesty.

Buffi

13 comments:

  1. Buffi, FANTASTIC news about your book! Congratulations! It has been quite a journey on so many levels, I am sure. Good luck!

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    1. Lisa - Thanks for reading. I am so thrilled about finally getting the book out and feeling it in my hands. Thanks for the support
      - Buffi

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  3. I loved this post! My nan used to bath me the sink of the laundrette she used to manage, of course that was in the days when two portions of fish and chips and three cans of coke used to feed us multitude of grandchildren!

    Great post!

    One question - when will your book be available for purchase? I'm really looking forward to reading it:-)

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    1. Hi Natasha - Thanks for reading! Aren't those "nannas" great? I miss those days too. I'm told the LATEST that the book will be out is Sept, but I'm pushing for July. Let's see... Have only 4 more chapters to edit. Maybe the kids will fall asleep early and I'll get some writing done :-)
      Thanks for stopping by.
      - Buffi

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  4. How exciting that you are publishing a book. Thanks for stopping by Saving Cent by Cent. I'm following you back.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by lisa. I'm very excited.
      - Buffi

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  5. Ooooo so excited! To read it and for you! Well done and I can't wait. Hope it's out in July then I can buy it to read whilst on holiday in August, will there be a version for Kindle available? I much prefer paper but i understand these electronic versions are usually 100% profit to the writer...although I could have got that wrong. I often tell myself things and am so convincing I really do believe them, but the reality is I've just made it up!

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    1. If you signed up on my Poll I will let you know that the book is ready. I'll have it on both hard and e copy. Thanks for stoppin' by again :-)
      Buffi

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  6. This made me laugh! I think all kids were like this at some point.

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  7. Kitchen sink bath...thats some creative thinking !! my kid is bit moody...sometimes she wants to have a bath immediately after she wakes up and sometimes she wants to take a day off :)

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  8. My son doesnt mind bathing but now he is 3 yrs and suddenly seems to hate having shampoo on his head :) Great to know that you are publishing a book. All the best.

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  9. Thanks for stopping by my blog.

    Nice blog.

    New Follower and E-mail Subscriber

    Elizabeth
    Silver's Reviews
    http://silversolara.blogspot.com

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