Bathtime Fun….or Not!

I believe you make your own luck and that a positive attitude and a thirst for new things in life can deliver you great opportunities and success. I am not one to “wish upon a star” or put a lot of faith in buying lottery tickets. Recently however, I have come to the conclusion that there may just be something to this lady luck thing. Up until very recently, it appears that in the bath department I have been extremely lucky indeed. Let me start by saying that having two young children (ages 5 and 2) having a sibling bath together, is a magical time that makes me think the world is a wonderful place.  My children laugh, play and giggle with unabashed abandon and have no concept of embarrassment as the romp around in their birthday suits. Bath time has been a joyful and relaxing event for the kids in our house since the day they were born. They have bathed together since the littlest one was able to sit on his own (supervised of course). Somehow through the last few years it appears I have won the lottery every bath time.  Because during the last bath just a few short days ago, a bath so similar to all others, something unexpected happened. Can you guess? I suspect you can. Oh yes, as I stood in the bathroom within eye and earshot I heard my daughter utter a disturbing and mind penetrating phrase. Her exclamation echoed through my ears and into my previously lucky and carefree bath brain. Those words my little 5-year-old uttered that struck fear into my normally serene bath time with the kids….were these short words……Mommy….he pooed! My brother pooed in the tub!

Ah how everything changed in an instant. No longer were my thoughts of bubbles and bath toys, of comfy towels and PJ’s. My thoughts were of germs and bleach and how to disinfect toys and my children.  I prepared myself for the worst as a peered over the edge of the tub into the abyss beyond. I squinted my eyes in an attempt to not see the scene before my eyes.  Alas, I had to open them fully to the mess that lay before me. I will spare you the awful details but sure enough, the former bubbly and clean bath water now had visitors of a more toilet nature, sourced from a fairly robust #2 from my toddler.

It was at this point that my parenting instincts kicked in and I surprised even myself at the efficiency I displayed. Children were asked to stand, rinsing was done and contact with the disturbing contents of the bath was minimized. Both kids were lifted out in an instant and rinsed quickly in the shower nearby. Hair was toweled and bodies dried. With the children out of immediate danger from the dreaded “kaka”, I turned my task to containment.

Hot water sprayed and thankfully the mess made it down the drain. The bath toys and bathmat on the other hand had more in store for them to disinfect and diffuse the situation. Order needed to be restored. Towels used to extract the kids and wipe feet as well as both the bath matt and tub matt were quickly whisked away to the washing machine like a presidential motorcade. Bleach was liberally used on the tub and the residue washed away. For the unfortunate toys, nothing less than a boiling cauldron of oil would do…in this case the oil was water and the cauldron was a saucepan. Nonetheless all the toys got a disinfecting courtesy of a rolling boil worthy of the finest Italian pasta, on our kitchen stove top.

After the chaos ended, I reflected on how to go back. Had a line been crossed and my luck run out? Was bath time no more? Of course not! It was just clearly time to start some serious potty training of my 2-year-old. The time had come to teach him about the potty and how to control his bathrooms. A great new chapter had opened up for me and I had known this day would come…just not so abruptly. There would be potty training, there would be bubbles and there would be many more baths for the kids together. And as for luck…well I still think I make my own,, but maybe, just maybe you will see me at the corner store sneaking the purchase of a lottery ticket into my purse. After all, might as well keep all options open.

Enjoy your baths and enjoy your potty training when the time comes.

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