My least favorite part of day to day parenting
My least favorite part of day to day parenting has to be the whole bathing thing. I enjoy watching them play in the water, but I loathe the whole “I’m going to scream like you’re pulling my limbs off just because you’re washing my hair” and the water on the floor and wet towels and the mess the whole experience always seems to require. And why oh why does it all have to take so long? If I try to hurry them through and just get them washed, they act like I’m impinging on their rights to a fun bathing experience and they are far more recalcitrant when it is time to do it all over again. And this isn’t just the two year old I’m talking about here!
I find it exhausting, and I wish there was a better way. Maybe I need to do some Google searches and see if I can find some pointers on how to make this a less tiring and less water-soaked experience for me. Has anyone else figured out how to make this more managable?
Emily on 30 Apr 2008 at 9:46 pm #
Plead pregnancy and have your husband bathe them.
That’s what I do!
Seriously, though, we semi-solved the hair washing problem by getting foam visors for them. No more water in their eyes, (more importantly, no more fear of it) and much less screaming.
Both Gabe and I also bring a magazine or a book in there with us, and we read while the kids play. It makes the time much less tedious.
And for the water on the floor - I just figure that I needed to mop anyway. How often do you bathe the kids? We usually do it once a week, so it isn’t unreasonable to mop the floor that often!
amber on 01 May 2008 at 9:33 am #
Ah, foam visors, that’s a great idea! I wonder where I can find something like that around here.
I try to give the kids a bath twice a week, because between playing at the property and Emma’s long hair they need it. However, I’m probably only averaging every 5-6 days right now because it is such a to-do. That is a good point about moping the floor though, I hadn’t thought of it that way!
And you know, it never occurred to me to try and ask Matt to do it… the most I’ve done is ask him to take Gregory in the shower with him. We tend to keep very separate roles when it comes to childcare and household managment in general. And besides, between the house and work, there’s not much time when he’d be available to do it these days!