If you ask most parents about their bedtime routine with their kids, it usually involves some variation on the same theme -- brushing teeth, taking a bath, and changing into pajamas. Every day they follow the same three steps. So it should be easy. Not so in my house. This is why bath-time is actually only two or three times a week.

When I tell people I only bathe my 3- and 4-year-old a couple times a week, they're often shocked (or they admit the same). But the fact is, bath-time is often a soaking wet struggle. My daughter has long hair down to her waist and my son hates to have water poured over his head. And now the two are too big to bathe together, so the whole thing is one big mess.

No thanks. Twice a week is plenty.

Now, obviously I bathe my children when they need it. If they have had swim lessons or worn extensive sunscreen, then yes, it's bath-time. But in the colder months when neither applies, they bathe far, far less.

Part of it is how they behave in the bath. There is often screaming and crying whether they don't want to bathe at all or they don't want to get out. They splash too much and never "keep the water in the tub" even though I tell them to. Mostly they're having fun, not being defiant, but it's still hard to manage, especially for one person.

Besides, they will get older and have to bathe every day (sometimes twice a day), so why put that on them now?

They never stink and if the dirt is caked on, well, that's why G-d invented baby wipes. OK, I am kidding. If the dirt is caked on, it's bath-time. Usually.

How often do you bathe your kids?

 

Image via Brandi Jordan/Flickr