Tuesday, April 10, 2012

A Tub Full of Kids

Welcome to the April 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Kids and Personal Care
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have shared stories, tips, and struggles relating to their children's personal care choices.
***


One of my favorite things about the evenings in our home is bathtime! When we welcomed our first baby into our family we began the tradition of doing bath as part of the bedtime routine. And to this day, almost 6 years later, the kiddos still enjoy spending time splishing and splashing in the water. We don't necessarily wash and scrub every day, we do a general cleaning of the common grimy parts {typically, legs covered in marker--yes, we have an artist who thinks his own legs are better than paper, dirty little feet and sticky little hands}, but mostly it's about them having fun, spending some time playing together and relaxing them in preparation for bed. I have noticed that the kiddos do a lot of bonding through play in the bath. They practice sharing, teamwork and exercising their imaginations...I love overhearing their dialogue as they create exciting and intricate games. Like the other night they were playing mermaids and sharks {guess who was the shark!?} and my heart melted as I overheard their play dialogue. Even little Elsa is now part of the fun! She loves the bath, but she loves playing with her sis and bro even more!

I also think bathtime is an important way to teach them about water safety and bathroom safety.

Like when...
Isaac started getting in and out of the tub with slippery limbs...
Maddie wanted to practice holding her breath underwater...
Both of them decided to experiment and splashed water all over the bathroom floor creating the craziest slip hazard ever!

As with anything to do with kiddos full of emotions, there are sometimes unpleasant bathtimes, but they have been few and far between. I think deep down my kiddos are part water creatures--because the most common problem we have is them not wanting to get out of the tub!

I love seeing the bathtub full of kiddos. It's impossible to put into words how amazingly blessed and grateful and beyond happy it makes me to see them all in there together having fun!

Moments I'm sure I will look back on and miss...

***
Carnival of Natural Parenting -- Hobo Mama and Code Name: MamaVisit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:
(This list will be live and updated by afternoon April 10 with all the carnival links.)

9 comments:

  1. I'm wondering if Ailia will be more of a bath time baby than Kieran is - it is like pulling teeth to get that boy in the tub! But he could live in the pool. Go figure!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love doing bathtimes with the kids together, but Liam gets offended when Sylvi splashes "too much".

    ReplyDelete
  3. That is so cool! I love that your kids enjoy their time together so much. We're just in the start of having two kids to bathe together, but so far, so good. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love the photo! My kids have always had fun at bathtime too - the problem was always getting them out of the tub LOL.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Aw, so nicely said! Bathtime really is a beautiful time. You and your children are all fortunate that you have been able to see it that way from the beginning!

    Thanks for sharing those thoughts!

    ReplyDelete
  6. We have four kids and they still usually all pile into the bathtub. I'm sure that will change in the next few years, as our oldest is nine, but for now I love watching them have so much fun playing together.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great post! Not only do the kids get to have fun getting clean, it is also very resourceful on water and power :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! And you are so right! We value being careful about our resource use in our home, but I didn't even think to mention that...I was just too focused on their cuteness :-)

      Delete
    2. It certainly is a distraction!!

      Delete

Thanks for letting me know you stopped by!