For many years, from the time my oldest child was able to sit up on his own, there were toys in my bathtub. At that time, we lived in a house that only had one bathroom (gasp) and all family members used it.
It really wasn’t so bad, until more kids started to arrive, and then things began to get a bit crowded. Soon we moved into a house that had two bathrooms, which was better, but the master bathroom had only a shower and I am a tub person. I like to fill it up with hot water and soak, so I still used the kid’s bathroom.
In the beginning, when they were babies, the toys were soft, such as rubber ducks and fabric toys. At first there were just a few,but they seemed to grow more plentiful with each birthday a child had. No matter that I picked them up after every bath, by the time I needed the tub, they were back. They either fell from their place on the side, or I knocked them in accidentally, so I got one of those little strainer things that stretches across the tub to contain them. This worked only until the child was able to crawl and pull up on the side of the tub. Then back in they went.
At some point, the rubber ducks gave way to harder toys, like cars and trucks and super heroes or Barbie dolls (naked, of course). Stuff like that is awfully hard on your feet if you are showering, and even worse if you aresoaking. However, I eventually got used to sharing my space with various and sundry items from the toy box, some fl oating, some not. We had the usual assortment of actual bath toys, but those were never good enough, and whichever child was about to be bathed would take off running to the toy box to pick out a few toys capable of causing pain to any adult who stepped (or sat) on them. It seemed like every bath, I had a metal bumper poking me in the back, or Barbie hair winding around my toes. Water guns were also a favorite, and many times I have sat in the tub with water dripping on my head from the ceiling. I always bathed the kids first, you see, so I could “relax” after that chore was done.
Since I had four children spaced out at 2-4 year intervals, it seemed my tub was always full of toys. I couldn’t get away from it. I could have sworn they multiplied.
Well, life goes on and sometimes we just lose track of time. So one day, cleaning the tub, I looked around and realized there was not a toy in sight! Of all things! When did that happen? I began to look for them, so sure was I that they were hiding somewhere just out of sight, or had gotten pushed under the sink, or were lurking in the bottom of the linen closet. But, no, I couldn’t find them anywhere.
This just didn’t feel right, so I went to the toy box to get a few to scatter around the bathroom, just to make me feel better, and guess what? I couldn’t fi nd the toy box either. In none of the rooms of my house was there a single toy box. The only things scattered about the bedrooms now were CD cases, notebooks, pocket knives, hunting boots, mouthpieces, helmets, dirty jerseys - or in my daughter’s room, cheerleading uniforms and beauty contest crowns, and shoes (lots of shoes).No toys anywhere. I sat on the bed and grieved. The absence of these toys indicated to me at last that my children were no longer children but well on their way to becoming adults, and that soon, these rooms would also fall empty, like the bathtub.
A few more years passed. I was blessed with two stepchildren who kept the bedrooms full a little longer. Bath time became strangely peaceful, with no little fists pounding on the door demanding entrance, and nothing fl oating in the water except the Ivory soap.
Then the fi rst grandchildren began to arrive! What wonderful creatures are grandchildren! You love them like your own, but it is so nice, after they have spent a night or two, to relinquish them to their parents, who you trust to care for them because you raised them to do so. And since they do spend nights with me, the toys gradually began to creep backin (they are stealthy little critters, those toys).
I didn’t really pay much attention to it, but just the other night, I sank back with a sigh into steaming hot bliss, and closed my eyes … and felt something bump my shoulder. I turned my head and came face to face with the painted eyes and red bill of a smiling rubber duck, bobbing peacefully in the water.
“Well, hello, old friend,” I said, “Nice to see you again.”
He didn’t answer, and as I felt my toes become entangled with something stringy and wet, I said to him with a smile, “I’ll bet there’s a toy box in the bedroom, too, huh?”
May we always have toys in our bathtub! And don’t forget to remember now and then! It’s good for you!
News, Pages 4 on 09/11/2013