My Bubble Bath Alone

I have not been feeling well. I decided that the achiness in my bones my be soothed by a long hot bubble bath. I have a great big jacuzzi bathtub (one of the main selling points of my house). I think I own every scent ever made by Bath and Bodyworks. I have scrubs and oils and soaps and I haven't had a bubble bath in THREE years. Those of you doing the math, my daughter is not yet three, but I wasn't allowed to take them while I was pregnant!

Tonight, we did not do dishes so I knew there would be hot water. I snuck upstairs to keep my daughter from seeing me disappear. I think it took about 20 minutes to get all the toys out of the tub and the bath paint of the wall and the little froggies of the floor of the tub. I got the bath water perfect. I chose the lavender vanilla for relaxation. I started to soak. I turned on the jets and relaxed deep into the bubbles.

That's when to door opened. She had already taken off her diaper and wanted a bath with Mommie!!! Soon, it was not just me and her, it was me and Little Mermaid and Cinderella and Flounder and Foam letters and swimming, squirting dolphins and a boat and the pink duckie and the yellow duckie and the Hulk doll with action arms and Mr. Bubble and Cookie Monster and two Elmos and Erinie and Tinker Bell and Lightening McQueen (Hailey only approves of NASCAR not Indy car (Mommie doesn't know the difference)) and Sally and Princess Barbie and the Castle and the floatie mirror and the ninja turtles and two floating books and last but not least a bright yellow sword.

Daddy wouldn't fit in the tub, so he sat on the side. She decided I was to "play" Little Mermaid, she was to "play"April O'Neil and Daddy was the Monster from Ben 10. April has swords that she loves to pretend stab with. The Monster kept trying to hit Little Mermaid or Mommie and She put a BIG stop to that with"Don't hit MY Mommie!!"

We played who could keep the Foam letter stuck to their forehead the longest. Then we started the drinking. She likes to drink water from every toy. They all pour different, so they all must be tested, sometimes she tests the ones she likes more than once. Then each of us had to test the toy for drinking. If we didn't do it right, she would instruct us on the right way to drink it.

Then Daddy got his hair washed three times!!! He was sitting on the floor watching us. He leaned his head in and she poured water on it. So then she asked for soap. Of course, I gave it to her. She poured more water, asked for more soap, poured more water, asked for more soap. All in all his shirt got soaked, but it is probably the best hair wash he has had in a month (hahaha)

I love to watch her bathe. She is so funny. She talks to the toys, she invents ways to play with the toys. Things I would never think of, for example, the boat for Cinderella looks like a cat dish and she fills it with water that we all must drink out by lapping like kittens with milk. I don't really know how clean she gets. I wash parts in between playing. Sometimes, I feel I come out less clean than I went in because the bathtub paints seem to stain my skin when she draws on me.

I hope I always remember these days. I know someday she will be too old to take a bath with. I know someday when she stands up the water won't still come up to her thighs. She won't always be able to lean back in my arms and practice floating in the water.

Some day when I finally get another bath alone I am afraid I will sit and cry at the fact that instead of a family bubble bath, it really will be just my bubble bath alone.