Bath Time Memories
Bath time used to be my absolute favourite part of our routine with my babies. The smell of the baby soap, the way they kicked, splashed and giggled, focusing on them alone while I cleaned them up before bed. It was all so beautiful and special and I looked forward to it every single night.
Mr. T. actually hated bath time when we first brought him home from the hospital. He was 6 weeks old and had only ever experienced sponge baths in his NICU crib. The first time we put him in a real bathtub he screamed bloody murder. His little face reddening in rage or in cold or in plain unhappiness. I tried placing a face cloth over his body in an attempt to help keep him warm, he wasn’t having any of it.
Eventually I discovered a baby bucket shaped tub that immersed him fully in warm water and all of a sudden bath time became fun again. We played music; everything from Chopin to Raffi. We did mini post bath massages with lovely smelling lotion after bath and cuddled under warm blankets reading stories as we both started to doze.
At some point in in the years since, bath time has become more of a chore than the fun bonding time it once was. The splashing turned from cute to just another mess to clean up. The giggles turned to screams and the slow bath process turned into something we rushed through to make sure we have enough time to read stories.
It was tonight as I bathed them and watched them play in the water that I realized I need to capture the beauty of those new baby tub time moments now, before they are long gone. I listened to the giggles, the stories they were inventing with their bath toys and yes even the loud annoying screams and I thought to myself that one day, before I even realize the moment has hit, they are going to hop in the shower without even glancing behind at me. They are going to wash their own hair and body. They are going to dry themselves off and powder themselves up. They are going to put on their cologne and style up their hair and go out there into the world all on their own.
I won’t be sitting beside the tub listening to how their day was or overhearing the stories they come up with while playing with Batman and Cinderella. I will be standing on the other side of the door wishing for the time back, wishing for the time where I was sitting at the side of tub bantering away with my little ones.
Sometimes it’s so hard to push away everything on my to do list and just focus on the moment. It’s hard to not rush through some of these moments because there is a pile of laundry waiting to be folded downstairs or school lunches need to be packed. The important thing that I need to remind myself is that laundry and other chores will continue to be a part of my life forever and ever but my kids will only be little for such a very short period of time.
Every day I have to remind myself to slow down and live in the moment. Tomorrow night during bath time there will be no laundry to put away, no work to finish and no dishes to be done. Tomorrow night I will sit beside the side of the tub and I will listen with every ounce of myself and I will cherish the sweet precious moments that will too soon be gone.
