What a Life!

It used to be that giving Ben a bath was Steve’s job. But Steve doesn’t like to sit in there with Ben, and what he does instead is stuff like cleaning up the kitchen after supper and tidying the house [things which I definitely am not opposed to]. At times when Ben has played outside all day, when he finally came in, he was too dirty to do anything so I had to give him a bath right away. Steve was so happy to not have to bother with giving Ben a bath that I thought perhaps I’d start giving Ben a bath every day shortly before Steve came home. Yes, perhaps. One can have the best of intentions but things don’t always work out that way.

As of late, Ben has become rather bored with baths. He has toys, but he only uses them to do bad things. Like…the rubber ducks – you squeeze the air out of them, stick them in the water, suck up some water, and then spray the water all over the bathroom floor. Or…you chew on the fish in your fishing set instead of catching them with your fishing rod. You get the picture. Basically, giving Ben a bath has gone from being a task that had to be done to a daily misery because of his bad behavior. [Perhaps this is why my good intentions to bathe Ben have yielded nothing.]

Now that Joey is pulling himself up, he, too, has become a part of the nightly bath routine. As soon as you turn on the water, Joey drops what he is doing and travels in high-gear over to the tub where he pulls up on the edge and watches the whole process. He is utterly fascinated with the water and the bathtub.* Of course, that means that not only does Ben get the floor wet, the new thrill is getting Joey wet too. Oh joy and rapture!

So I had this bright idea. I wouldn’t just give Ben a bath before Steve came home, I would read him a story while he was in the tub. From a book without pictures. A story that was good to listen to while you were quietly doing something else. Then Ben wouldn’t find the bath time as such a drag and maybe he’d just sit there and play nicely.

And my even brighter idea? Since Joey was so fascinated with the water in the tub and I would be sitting there right with them anyway since I would be reading Ben a story, I would put Joey in the tub with Ben and I wouldn’t have to worry about Joey drowning or anything. Joey could play in the water, Ben could listen to a story, and I would be busy reading (with the book strategically held so I could see the boys at the same time) so I wouldn’t be bored either.

Yup, bright ideas we have. Har, har, har!

Here’s what really happened:

I told Ben it was time for him to have a bath and asked him if he would like it if I read him a story while he was in the tub. He thought that was a great idea. Then I asked him if Joey could play in the tub with him while he took his bath. I explained that the water wouldn’t be quite as deep and he would have to be very careful and not push or shove Joey or knock him over because he could get hurt very badly. Ben thought that would be okay.

I put Ben in the tub and washed him while the water was running, as usual. Then I undressed Joey and put him in the tub. I picked up the book I had selected and started reading. Ben was being a saint, after all. And Joey? He was happy too.

Actually, Joey was having the time of his life. Joey was splashing and moving around and just having the best of times. He was like the little Energizer Bunny turned loose. I did not know he could have so much fun. I must confess, I didn’t even get through one entire page of the book.

Ben and I decided that Joey was Big Splash and Ben was Little Splash. Because really, that’s how it was.

The bathroom? I don’t think Ben’s worst episode of spraying ducky water all over could come anywhere near to what Joey managed to do. I grabbed old towels and laid them on the floor. Even then, I had to get them both out after only a few minutes or there wouldn’t have been any water left in the tub. I did managed to catch some of it with our DVD recorder. When the world goes to the dogs, take lots of pictures, right?

Tonight I shall try giving them both a bath at the same time again. But I shall omit the reading a story part. I think Joey playing in the bathtub will be more than enough entertainment for all of us.

*A funny side note: at our house, we not only put the toilet seat down (a rule for the guys), the toilet lid gets put down too. I have this terrible anxiety about things like makeup brushes or toothbrushes or other things falling into the toilet. But the other day, Ben emptied his potty into the toilet and put it into the sink to be rinsed but I didn’t get to it right away. So both the seat and the lid were up…when Joey discovered them. I’m telling you, he had pulled himself up on the toilet and was standing there looking into the toilet bowl with that same awe and utter fascination he has when he watches Ben take a bath. Way too funny!