Dirty Girl

Image by _ES via FlickrI don't know how it happened. Okay, I know how it happened, but I still can't believe it. Baby did not have a bath for...10 days. I know, I know, it sounds terrible but actually it sounds much worse than it was.

We washed her face, she washed her hands, she brushed her teeth, we wiped her bottom with baby wipes. But we kept forgetting to draw a bath for her, and put her in.

Bath time has just never become part of our ritual for her before bedtime. It is usually read a dozen books, sing some songs, and it is out like a light for her and big sighs of relief for us as the house finally quiets down for the evening. Then we clear up the kitchen, the living room, check the dogs, brush our teeth, then finally get to bed ourselves.

Then as we lay there we realize we forgot to bathe her again.

It all started when I was out of town the other week. G. bathed her once during the 4 days. Then a few days later, I was back, and it was a flurry of trying to get unpacked and organized again. Then the weekend and running around, errands, stuff around the house. Then the work week started up again, rush rush rush to get her to daycare, hurry to make dinner and get her fed, read books, sing songs, and every night we'd turn out the light and go "Shoot! We forgot to give her a bath."

I was going to give her a bath this past Friday but we got caught up packing and shopping for a weekend of camping. Then I was going to bathe her in the RV tub, but it was so cold outside and none of us were bathing anyway.

So this morning, I was determined to give her a bath, even if she resisted. I drew a warm bath with bubbles and when I woke her, I made it sound like the greatest thing in the world to take a bath.

"No bath!" she protested, and I braced myself for a meltdown. Not a great way to start the day.

So I negotiated.

"Honey, you have to cooperate with me and take a bath. We have to SHARE in the responsibility of getting you clean so you can be clean when you go to school," I said.

That did the trick. She has been so excited to be "sharing" lately, always announcing that she is SHARING. She heard sharing and immediately wanted to get in the tub.

Then she didn't want to get out of the tub. I had to do another negotiation to share. And finally she was clean, dry, dressed and ready for school.

We were running late but all I kept thinking was how glad I was that I finally remembered to bathe her. Mommy Hell can go on without me for another day or two. We are back on track, and baby is clean.

Am I the only one who has forgotten to bathe their child for...a long period of time?

Comments

[Pamela]

I am sort of the opposite in that I have to keep telling our 3-year-old "no" when he begs to take a bath. For him, bathing is about playing with his toys in the water, and he loves it and wants to do it all day long. But sometimes I just don't have the time, he isn't dirty, or he just had a bath earlier in the day. I feel so guilty as a parent for denying my kid a bath.

[Jane]

Yesss!
Tonight during a meditation session it occurred to me that- uh oh, once again it had been more than a week since that last reluctant (on my part) bath!
We are a recalcitrant mum and an incorrigible dad. We forget nail- cutting, use pinking shears for haircuts and to sum it all up, all I can say is
woe to anybody who checks behind our son's ears.
Once again you've hit the nail on the head for topicality, Alizia !

[Eva]

That doesn't seem that long. We do baths for entertainment ("if you have a crab, put it in water") than for cleanliness. She does shower with us sometimes. But it's probably no more than once or twice a week!

[aliza]

Thanks as always for helping me to feel not so terrible and not so all alone. I was actually panicked about reading the comments here and prepared to take down this post thinking I had gone too far in revealing my ineptitude. But frankly, NG is an incredibly happy, smart, well-adjusted kid. Maybe she has a little toe schmutz now and then, but she is thriving and we are so proud.

I think 1-2x a week is plenty for bathing unless there are extenuating filthy circumstances. Otherwise, especially up here, the dryness will wreak havoc on her skin with too many baths.

[Julia]

well, i purpose don't bathe my girl 2 nights a week because my hubby has night classes and i'm quite exhausted from just being a SAHM, preparing dinner, and feeding her dinner. we have to bathe DD regularly because she actually doesn't really like water. i'm sure if we didn't bathe her for a week, she will disklike baths again. for example, DD knows how to spit during toothbrushing, but if we didn't let her practice spitting for a week, she will forget.

[Tonya]

Oh yes, we have gone from nightly baths to... oh, a lot more lax about it. My kids have a few times gone a week between baths. But then I realize sometimes that there was swimming inbetween, so I guess it all averages out. All you can do it the best you can.

And remember, some day we won't be able to keep them OUT of the shower! My 13 YO niece disappears for an hour at a time lately. ;-)

[Laura]

Heck no you're not the only one! I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one!! :) I haven't mastered the art of bathing twins solo, so DH and I always bathe them when we're together...and we remember. I feel good if we get them in the bath once a week. If we manage to do it twice a week, I feel like Parent of the Year!