bath anyone?

We love bathtime at our house. I have been a bath person all of my life. I actually grew up in a home that only had a bathtub, no shower. Really, I'm not kidding, the tub was up on pedastools and everything. At some point in my jr. high school life my Dad bought this crazy hose hook up thing that went on the spigot and had a shower head on the end. I hated it, I usually ended up spraying the whole room! We did move when I was entering 11th grade, the new house had two bathrooms (the old house only had one) and both had showers!! I still took baths pretty regularly but I did learn the convience of hopping in the shower before school!!

Fortunately my kiddos have always loved bathtime. Miss M and JB both giggled through their first baths and seemed to enjoy the freedom, the water and the undivided attention.

As they get older it is still a favorite time, marked with a few moments of yuck when JB gets soap in his eyes or Miss M sees the shampoo bottle coming towards her. They still take their bath together, they love it and it's easier for me. Since they have both taken to the idea of swimming in the tub, it's a little crowded with their long bodies sprawled out. Soon we will have to be a one-at-a-time family, but for now, we're keeping them together. And no, we don't feel weird about the boy/girl thing. We could make it weird, but why spoil their innocence. When one asks a question, or just points and ponders, we give them the straight answer and move on. It's a total non-issue!

We've done a couple of fun things in the tub, tried a new one tonight that was a big hit. So if bathtime is getting boring at your house, for you or your kids, try one of these activities out:
1. Homemade tub paint (see previous post) made from shaving cream and food coloring.
2. Close the shower current and have a water gun fight (or squirty fish fight as we do in our house)
3. Bubbles--ya know, I figure if they sit in a tub of bubbles for long enough, who really needs to bother being scrubbed...
4. Toys--we've tried many of our toys in the tub, I figure, if toddler/young child toys can't get wet, they aren't worth their salt (with a few exceptions ie stuffed animals). Miss M likes to bring her princess collection in for a swim FYI Cinderella and Belle float because of their poofy dresses, Pocohontas and Mulan sink like anchors! JB likes to bring his trucks in and then run them all over the tub walls.
6. Gone fishin'--throw in stuff that floats and give them a net.
5. Tonights fun--glow sticks! I bathed them and then turned off the lights and threw a bunch of glow sticks in the water. They loved it, bath time lasted another 1/2 hour easy!

Any ideas you'd like to share???