Bath time: love and hate all in one experience

My boys jump up and down, screaming " bath, yah, bath, yah, yah!" in excitement when Olde and I mention the idea of it being a bath night---meaning we head upstairs a bit earlier than usual to start our bedtime routine (more on this later) for a bath, which usually happens every other night. It starts out with so much excitement, kids feverishly getting undressed, searching out toys that are bath-able, and screams of delight as their little toes touch the warm water for the first time.

I, as a parent, love and hate bathtime. It can be a time of real fun as the little ones learn so much about them selves, gravity, and physics, as they dump water through toys or let boats sink, or spray/squirt each other. It can also be a time of a real test to my parenting abilities when the kids do not behave with the new found skills of above mentioned ideas, or when they refuse to be washed with soap.

There is always a ton of giggling that is interspersed with fighting over who splashed who and why they did it. But the echoing giggles are what I try to concentrate on when they are trying my patience of being splashed for the 198th time or when I have to hold them down to soap them up meanwhile the entire time being told "they don't like soap!"

Although many a nights, Olde and I find ourselves negotiating for the prize of not being the bath giver, the other night as I was watching the boys romp in the sudsy water, I realized I better enjoy it while it lasts because soon enough I am sure the door to the bathroom will be locked with the shower on, while I yell at one of the boys to hurry up and get out of the shower. And I am sure, I will look back on these days with fondness...of the splashing fun, bonding over the hate of soap, and love of warm water wrinkling the skin.