The Kid Wash

As a parent, I’ve always been open to new ways of getting my kids clean.  During Griffin’s potty training days, I found that an effective way to clean the poop off his hiney and underwear was to take him out in the yard and use the power spray option on the garden hose nozzle.  It was nice and cool in the summer and Griffin still talks about it, though whether or not it’s a fond memory for him I can’t tell.

So, I was pleasantly surprised when the kids came up with a new way to get themselves clean, last Tuesday evening.  At first, it irritated me a little, since I had already washed them and let the water out of the tub, but I’m thinking we could be on the tip of something big.

Worn out from the day, I went in to sit down with my wife, while the kid’s bathwater was spiraling down the drain.  I could hear normal bath time play going on, so I didn’t get too concerned about it.  When I heard a solid THUMP emanate from our bathroom followed by incessant giggling, I knew something was afoot.

Dragging myself out of my chair, I went to see what all the fun was about and if I needed to put a stop to it.  It turns out that the boys had taken a bar of soap and run it over the entire length of the damp bathtub.  They’d made enough suds to completely coat the inside of the tub and as a result, made it slicker than snot on a doorknob.

By the time I’d gotten there, they had managed to transfer the bubbly soap suds to their own bodies, and were having a blast slipping, sliding, and spinning in the empty tub.  From neck to toes, they had managed to do a better job soaping up than I did when I washed them.

It was a little more challenging to get them rinsed off the second time around.  Especially for Gage, who barely deigned to get more water on his body.  But, I think the idea has some merit to it.  Next time we get ready for bath, I’m going to wet the tub, give the boys a bar of soap and tell them to go to town.

Keep watch on this space to see which one is first to visit the ER with a busted head.