The River Nile

I have a nano second to write this blog post while my toddler is busy discovering something fabulous about a battery powered Thomas the Tank Engine, my three week old is sleeping soundly in the bassinet, the bottles are being sterilized and the coffee that I just spilled on my keyboard is drying!

I remember giving JR his first baths when he was a wee one. I’d get the very carefully selected baby bathtub out and put it in the kitchen sink. I’d then very carefully sponge bathe him between the creases of his very cute baby fat and then lay him out on a scrumptious cashmere blanket with the heating turned up and the classical music playing (probably Mozart or Bach to really stimulate the senses and sometimes a wee bit of Oprah). I’d then proceed to give him a baby massage and dress him in some delicious outfit before rocking him to sleep. Well, apparently this isn’t quite possible when you have to bathe a toddler at the same time!

I have been fretting about the moment Wells’ umbilical cord scab (sorry that sounds really nasty) falls off as it would mean figuring out how to give them both baths at the same time. After all,let’s face it, a toddler bathtub looks more like a scientist’s lab with beakers, cups and measuring cylinders than it does a haven for newborn baby bathing. Plus, JR was very specific when he told me he did not want “Monkey Pants” to share his bubbles (obviously, I mean who wants to share bubbles?!).

Well, my lovelies, I finally figured it out! I’d like to call it the “River Nile Technique”. While your toddler is busy pouring water from one container into the next you quickly get that babaganoush naked and then waft him or her through the water (at the other end from the toddler), as if baptizing them in the river Nile. Yes it’s quick but it’s effective and voila! you have two bathed children!

Now don’t give up hope on me yet as I plan to get that massage and classical music into the routine somehow. Just working on convincing JR that this is a much better idea post-bath than sprinting up and down the hallway working off the last bit of toddler energy he has for the day. But until then, the River Nile Technique it is!