My mom and I have an ongoing argument.
I have gotten in the habit of giving my kids a bath at night before bedtime. It is usually every night…maybe every other night. If my mom happens to call during this time, or if we are visiting and I suggest bath time, she laughs at me and says “how dirty can they really be?” She says that she used to bathe me maybe once or twice a week. My mother-in-law liked to bathe her babies in the morning when it was quiet and everyone was in a happy, rested mood. Apparently everyone has a different way of doing it.
I give my kids a bath at night for several reasons.
1. It helps to fight what I call the evening “crank factor.” From about 4:30 pm on, my sweet little angels take on demon-like personality traits and bath time gives me a way to kill some time before bed in a contained (and CLEAN!) environment. Did I just say kill time? I meant, spend quality time with my adorable children. Truly, I did.
2. I don’t have time in the morning. In the morning, I consider it a great start to the day if I get to bathe. And let’s face it, clean, happy mom wins.
But most importantly,
3. After dinner in my house, my kids usually look like this –