Family bath time is a big deal in our house and, while it doesn’t happen every night, it has quickly become one of my favorite things we do together. Well, that and sharing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as an afternoon snack with Karis every day.
Now, if you read those first two sentences and gagged at how boring and sad my life is, this blog is not a good fit for you. If you think it’s even sadder that family bath time and sharing a PB&J with my daughter are both magical to me, you should probably leave. There’s going to be a lot more mommy blog-like posts coming your way if you check back, so feel free to make your run for it now. 🙂
Family bath time is one of the best things about our big master bathroom. And this is how it goes:
-I hop in and start my shower routine.
-About five minutes later, Matt and Karis come into the bathroom. He starts filling up our big tub with water and bubbles making a bath for Karis. Once it’s reached a good level, he plops her in.
-We let her play in the water with all her bath toys while Matt draws up a little bath for Abigail in our bathroom sink. We still use the little plastic tub they gave us at the hospital although, that will change soon when she outgrows it.
-Karis and I wave and make silly faces at each other because the shower is right next to the large tub.
-Then I hop out of the shower, dry off and get dressed.
-It’s my turn to take over Abigail. I bathe her while Matt and Karis hop in the shower.
-Matt does his shower routine while Karis plays.
-By the time they’re done, I’m lotioning Abi and getting her dressed.
-While Matt drys off Karis and gets her dressed, I feed Abi and put her down for the night.
-Lastly, we do Karis’s bedtime routine which consists of a family prayer, singing a song and reading a book.
Some nights the whole routine is stressful…and just really hard. One night, Karis asked for bubbles and when we explained we were out, she had a complete meltdown. She cried the rest of the time until bedtime routine. Abigail, for the most part, really enjoys taking a bath. As long as you put her in nice and gently, she really melts into it and relaxes. Except for the night of Karis’s bubble meltdown. Because Abi could hear Karis (I’m pretty sure the neighbors could too) she decided to partake in the crying as well which is always super fun. Karis never really did the contagious crying thing. But Abi, being the classic younger sibling, will hear kids at the store or at church crying and join them. It’s like the most disturbing yawn that passes from child to child until you can’t hear anything else besides the baby crying chorus happening around you. And you, as a parent of one of the crying children, pull out all the stops to try and console them because you know there are people around who want to yell out, “Somebody shut that baby up!”
I’m only saying the above because my cousin actually once shouted out that same demand at a baseball game when a baby nearby was continuously crying with no end in sight. Fueled by the bravery that stems from an egocentric combination of beer and surrounding friends who felt the same way, he yelled out, “Somebody shut that baby up!” The couple with the baby got up and left. Of course, he felt bad about it afterward, but it’s still kind of a funny story and one of the main reasons I won’t be taking my kids out until they’re at least 10-years-old. Moments like family bath time shared between just us will suffice ’till then.
Who’s this couple taking a newborn to a baseball game? I commend them because there’s no way I’m doing that.
Even though these daily activities can be hard, it’s so worth it after experiencing those few times when everything goes perfectly – when no one cries and everyone has a good attitude. It’s honestly one of the best feelings when your children are happy and having fun.