Bathtime

As a mom I have learned the great importance of multi-tasking. Of course, I've always been a bit of a multi-tasking fiend, but there's something about motherhood that has kicked it up a notch...or four.

Another thing I have found to be very helpful as a mom is establishing bits of routine and ritual to help the day go more smoothly. And I know, this isn't any earth shattering news to anyone reading this. The first few months of motherhood can be quite chaotic...some days being better than others...but eventually I have found the chaos to subside and make room for a little routine.

So like many families I know, Cadence takes a bath most nights as part of the wind-down ritual for the day. And now that she's older and more agile, bath time is quite a lot of fun with splashing and mock swimming and blowing bubbles. One evening not too long ago, while Cadence was happily splashing away, I decided to make the most of this time. So while keeping one eye towards the tub and my ears ready to note the slightest sound of distress, I did what the experts...and some child welfare regulations...protest, and walked away from the tub.

See, our house is small, and pretty old, and we have one of those Brady Bunch style bathrooms that serves as a passageway between my bedroom and the nursery. In fact, my armoire is literally two steps away from the bathtub, behind the bathroom door. So I figured it wouldn't hurt to take those two steps away to change into my PJ's for night.

In my head I have a mental clock watch ticking the seconds away that my back is to the tub...1,2,3...(splish, splashing heard in the background)...got my PJ pants...4,5...(splish, splashing still heard)...looking for a matching top...6,7...(softer splashing)...ok, screw the matching top, any one will do ...8...(tiny grunts heard in the background)...wait,what did I just hear?...9,10...(more grunts as I'm frantically putting on the PJ's)....11...I've now turned back around, the tub is in sight...12...a wide eyed Cadence staring up at mommy as a look of disgust and horror sweeps across mommy's face...13...I sweep Cadence out of the tub and sort of hold her at arms length as I cry out for the assist from the hubby watching TV in the other room...14...I bravely peek back into the tub as I hold a wet, squirming and slightly confused child, still at arms length...15..."Eric, look at the size of that thing!" I exclaim incredulously as he enters the bathroom and also peers into the tub. "Looks like we've got a six incher!" states Eric, with a hint of pride, as he grabs the large cup used to rinse the child and starts to fish the "six incher" out.

So after a quick soapy rinse in the bathroom sink for Cadence, and a generous application of Clorox to the tub, our evening ritual resumed its normal course. What can I say? Maybe the experts do know a thing or too when it comes to supervising kids in the tub, and maybe multi-tasking, like everything else, has a time and a place. And lastly, maybe sometimes its makes life a little more interesting to have those memorable interruptions to otherwise beneficial ritual and routine.