The Big Tub

The kids LOVE to take a bath in The Big Tub.

It’s not really that big, just bigger than standard. But to them, it’s like a pool…without a diving board…unless you count the extra-wide edges…which, not surprisingly…they do.

Bath toys dwell in great abundance in The Big Tub. Small boats, large dinghies, rubber ducks, plastic cows, snakes, frogs, dinosaurs, cups, saucers, small appliances…ok…not small appliances…anymore. And I may have embellished a bit on the “large dinghies” as well – but that’s a whole other story.

And let’s not forget the soap. Of all the aforementioned toys readily available for instant bathing pleasure, the soap has emerged as a bath-time favorite. Find-the-soap, catch-the-soap, drop-the-soap, find-the-soap-again, smell-the-soap, throw-the-soap, the soap slide, the soap rocket, the soap splash-down, the soap-is-in-my-eyes…The soap is in my eyes!…Towel!…TOWEL!!!

Lather…rinse…repeat.

They also like the jets. If the water gets high enough, i.e. if Dad lets the water get high enough, i.e. if Dad has foolishly allowed his attention to drift (pun intended) from the task at hand and the water has unbeknownst to him risen beyond the point of minimum safety standards…it’s time to turn on the jets.

Ahhh…the jets. To an adult – loosely defined as one who has crossed the chronological boundary of legal adulthood - the jets transform a stagnant, tepid pool into a soothing, rapturous Jacuzzi. To a child, it’s more like a raging, tumultuous cauldron of churning sea in the throes of a perfect storm.

Not to mention what it does to the bubbles.

Sometimes we add bubbles. Not many, mind you. Let’s say slightly more than enough to attract alpine skiers from all corners of the globe, and just enough to suggest to the untrained eye that Mt. Everest has miraculously changed addresses. Enough to slather on Santa’s beard, Elvis’s sideburns…or perhaps Adam’s loin cloth. Enough in which to disappear completely, and reappear as the Abominable Snowman.

Enough so that when the bath is done, it’s on to the shower to rinse off the bubbles.

Sometimes they even get clean…sometimes.

No matter…They got to have a bath…in The Big Tub.