Taking Back the Bathroom.

When we bought our house, I was adamant about wanting a big master bathroom with a soaking tub.  It was to be my sanctuary, my place to get away from it all. And then they came.  Those people.  Those little people.  The ones who splash and scream and haul every single toy they own into my beautiful bathroom and leave it there.  The kidlets entered my bathroom and didn’t want to leave. 

Yes, they have their own bathroom, they always have. Why they don’t want to use it is beyond me. Most people would love to have their own bathroom.  Kids today just don’t appreciate what we give them!

As a mom, I have resigned myself to the fact that anytime I want to use the toilet, I will have an audience.  If the door is closed, the audience will enter it without asking or knocking.  If the door is locked, they will pound on it while yelling things like “What are you doing" or even better “Are you pooping”.  I think this is the reason men sit in the bathroom so long.  It is so the kids forget they are there! 

In regards to showering, I am now used to having an audience for that too.  Every morning, small faces press themselves against the glass while I shampoo my hair.  They hide in my closet and ask me questions I can’t hear over the rush of water, forcing me to stick my head out into the cold air only to learn they are asking random questions such as what shoes am I planning to wear to work, when is Daddy getting up or can they leave the bathroom to go get their lovey (blanket) from their own room.  Um….do I really need to answer these things mid-shower?

But these are things I have learned to live with.  They were not the worst thing the kidlets could do in my bathroom.  The worst was when they invaded my tub.

Call me selfish but that is MY tub.  It is big, and deep, everything I could want in a tub.  One day, Biggest and Littlest realized the same thing.  They wanted to take their baths in it too.  And so my sanctuary quickly was overcome by old bath toys, Barbies with the eyes wearing off from frequent submersion (not creepy at all), children’s soaps and shampoo.  Every night, water dripped from the walls and puddled up on the floor and small children’s toys somehow “surprised” me in the tub…until last week.

Last week, I took my bathroom back.  Hubby helped me boot the kidlets out.  We moved all the toys, soaps, towels, and other miscellaneous objects back to their bathroom.  Of course, Biggest and Littlest protested.  They loved the chance to swim in Mom’s tub.  We gave them the excuse it was because their splashing would ruin the beautiful print we just put above the bathtub, but we all know that isn’t true.  Mom just wanted her bathroom back. 

Now the only thing cluttering up the end of the tub is a couple of candles, instead of an enormous plastic container with all their junk in it.  The tiles surrounding the tub are now clean and dry every time I want to take a bath.  All I need to do now is to stock up on vino and bubble supplies.  Bliss!

 

Maybe someday I will be able to pee in private as well…