Bathtime!
The Webmaster and I have developed a pretty good system when it comes to bathing the kids. The whole process has undergone a gradual metamorphosis since day one. When the Munchkin came home, the Webmaster freely confessed that he had no idea how to bathe her. Since I was the one with more baby experience, plus I was Mommy, bathtime kind of defaulted to me. This continued until the Munchkin was about a year old and was using the bathtub instead of the infant set-up and the kitchen sink. By that point, I was pregnant with Baby Boy and was quite green around the gills. So, I turned to the Webmaster and said, “You HAVE to do this.”
He took over baths and ever since then has worked them like a pro. While I still do baths if he works late, or the kids are going so crazy that we need to tag-team and work fast, he generally handles the whole kit-and-caboodle. We bathe the kids at the same time right now, for a number of reasons – it saves on water, the Munchkin would have a fit if her brother got a bath before she did, they both love playing in the tub, and it just saves on time. Ever since Baby Boy got too big for the kitchen sink, he and the Munchkin have bathed together, and while I handled him as an infant, Daddy took over once he made it to the tub. I helped until Baby Boy could sit up on his own well, and then the Webmaster proved that he could handle them both.
Once that water starts running, both kids head for the bathroom. It doesn’t matter what they are doing or what they are watching. Last night, for instance, the Munchkin demanded that Veggie Tales be turned off so she could take her bath. The Webmaster strips them both naked in the bathroom, and pops them into the tub. I gather up the clothes and diapers off the floor and dispose of everything properly – clothes into the laundry, diapers into the pail, diaper pins into the bar of Ivory soap on the changing table. While he is washing both kids up (and they are splashing each other with great glee), I pull out fresh jammies for each child in the nursery, along with the appropriately-sized disposable diaper. And I have to grab the Burt’s Baby Bee Buttermilk lotion.
When the Webmaster is finished and the kids are rinsed off, I usually take the Munchkin while he handles Baby Boy. After the Munchkin is semi-dry, she gets to streak around the house to air out. I chase her down to comb out her hair, but she gets some time to run around before she gets in her diaper and pajamas. While I’m trying to corrall the wild one, the Webmaster gives Baby Boy a quick rubdown with the Baby Bee lotion. That stuff smells heavenly, and the kid has the softest skin. The Munchkin insists on getting some “otion” in her hand, which she likes to dab on her cheeks and rub into her hands. Finally, Baby Boy gets wrestled into his diaper and sleeper, and then we switch kids. I take Baby Boy to nurse him, and the Webmaster gets the Munchkin’s teeth brushed and reads her two bedtime stories (we have to limit it at two, or she would keep demanding more books to avoid actually going to sleep). Baby Boy usually falls asleep while nursing (with or without a bath), so I tuck him into his crib. After the Munchkin’s bedtime stories are over, I poke my head her room to give her a kiss good-night, and then she says, “Mommy, we snuggle little bit?” So I lay down next to her and rub her back or her tummy for a song or two (she always gets a music CD at naptime and bedtime of her choosing, and it varies from Veggie Tales to Sesame Street to Star Wars) before I give her a last kiss and slip out.
When they’re asleep and clean, it’s easy to remember why we love them so much. And when our system works, and the kids spend time with their Daddy as he gives them a bath – that’s when I remember why I love him so much, too.
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June 22nd, 2006 07:59
That’s a really nice post! It sounds quite similar to our own night-time routine. Tonight, please give Munchkin & Baby Boy a special little hug from Mophead and Dustbunny!