Bath Time Confessions

I am far from the perfect parent. FAR from it. But what I’m about to admit falls into the bad mommy category.

My kids rarely get baths.

If they don’t look dirty or smell funky, then no baths for them. Part of this is because of convenience; the other part is because my boys HATE baths and getting their hair washed.

Two weeks after I had my sweet daughter, nearly 8 months ago, my husband decided to tear out the walls of our bathtub/shower. Promises were made to replace them quickly. But 7 ½ months later, I still have plastic sheeting on the walls surrounding the bathtub. My friend and I even threatened to tile the walls if he didn’t fix it, to no avail. Last week, the promise of a trip to Home Depot kept the hope alive. The trip never happened.

So, I am living in a house with one bathroom and a torn apart tub. The tub still works. I just have to remove the plastic off the walls every time I give the kids a bath. And I have to put it back up afterwards. Once my children’s feet can’t be distinguished from the dirt they are walking in, though, it is time. I pull off the plastic, drag my kicking and screaming boys into the bathtub and throw them in.

For all the fighting they do getting in, they never seem to want to get out either. Sometimes I have to bribe them with Skittles to get in. Other times, I throw in cheap glow sticks and turn off the lights. And yet other times, I turn the water colors with a little food dye.

 This week, Baby Girl got to be in the bath with the boys for the first time. She made sure they were thoroughly clean with all the splashing. And I wasn’t the bully making their hair wet.