How Many Wilcoxson Children Fit in a Bath Tub?

Bath time at my house is not a casual thing. It is a work that requires precision and strong character. Actually it is really not bad at all, but it does take teamwork and patience most nights.

Every night and sometimes every other night the animals at our "zoo" take a bath. Noel and I make sure that the there are no diaper surprises. Then the animals are released to climb the stairs. Have you ever tried to herd four children up the stairs at the same time? Well let me tell you it takes lots of hand and eye coordination. When they all finally get to the top of the stairs then you have to get them to walk down the hallway and into the bathroom. Then you have to start the water, undress them and stick them in the bathtub. That is the easy part.

Now we have a timer that is in the bathtub, we set the timer for 10 minutes. Yes, Noel and I can bath our children in five minutes and let them have five minutes to play. Noel and I have two children each and we are responsible for those two children when it comes to washing, rinsing and for safety reasons.

After the 10 minutes are up then we have an assembly line for drying and clothing. Usually the first child that is taken is the one that does not want to sit in the bathtub but wants to stand and kick water. Then usually we go in the order of attitude, meaning the child that gives us the hardest time in drying and dressing goes first.

The the herd is ushered into the bedroom and they are put to bed. Now all of this takes less than 20 minutes, but it takes at least 3 hours of energy. So we are looking forward to when they can bath themselves. We are just wondering if there is a bath tub that will fit all five children.

I get a lot of questions and inquiring looks when I meet people that have not been around me long or have never met me before; Noel and I have grown to love and laugh at these moments. So explaining the simple task of bathing a child is turned into a blog because Noel and I bath four children at the same time. Really what I like to tell people is that they need to come over and just hang out with us. We are normal people who are trying to raise normal children except that we have it to the fourth and now fifth degree.

The picture at the top of the page is in grandma's bathtub.