Bath Times

There are random times in our lives when we feel at peace. We're lucky to get that moment once in a lifetime, once a month, once or week or even once a day.

Despite the choas that is the boys' and my life, my favorite moment of the day is at and after bathtime.

I don't do the conventional bath with my boys. After all, we are not the conventional house. They HATE water, well my youngest does and my oldest...he's come to terms with water. Just don't get any on his clothes!

So, bath time in our house has to be creative. Yesterday it was a tub full of Transformers. My oldest who's OCD/anxiety meds aren't working up to par just yet, insisted that it had to be "one Transformer of every kind". I'm sure that in his head, he knew the meaning of that, but it was lost all together on me. We still made it work though. Today was glow sticks in the bathtub day. We pulled the shades, shut the lights off and had fun!

I never give them baths at night anymore. There's just too many things going on for them. So, like any unconventional house, we break the rules. They get their baths before lunch!

Yep, that's right, they're thrown in the tub, right before they get the chance to wear more food than they eat!

Why do I do this? I actually get asked that a lot lately. And here's all the reasons why:

1) Because I can.
2) Because at night, they know time is limited and they don't want to stop playing to hop in a tub. They inevitably fight with me and that ramps them up even more before bed.
3) Because there is no rush to their water play before lunch. There is no rush to meet a looming bedtime or medicine time. They can just play until they're all sorts of pruney! (I'm pretty sure that's a word!)
4) Last, but not least, and definitely THE most important reason, because I learn from my kiddos. Especially my oldest who can be more vocal about why he needs things a certain way, or why something works for him today, but not tomorrow.

When I started homeschooling, I thought it would be easy. I'd follow a set curriculum, we'll peter along and it will all just take care of itself. What I didn't count on was how their special needs would change everything about how I learned to teach them in academics and in life.

Bath time before lunch allows them to decompress from the morning. Be it lessons, doctor's appointments, etc. Then we have this quiet, cuddle on the couch session before lunch. We all truly enjoy one another's company and we all in that moment get along. There is no sensory problem that needs to be fixed, no OCD toy issue that is screaming at one or the other from another room. Dishes and laundry become invisible for those brief moments and time sort of stops. I take in every giggle, every smell, every gesture and commit it to memory. In those moments, whether my oldest is ticcing or my youngest can't seem to say what he means, all of their needs, all of the chaos and the outside world disappears. I wish those kinds of moments could last forever.