BIG TROUBLE IN THE BATHTUB

George McGurn

February 2, 2000

I have written a lot about the great times I have with my four grandchildren. Usually my role has been more of a friend to my grandchildren. Usually I would spend a few hours playing and hanging out with them. And then I would head home. But since my wife retired from teaching this year my role as a grandfather is beginning to change some.

Now that my wife is available for baby-sitting our role has expanded. We spend more time with the children and we also get involved in some household activities.

Last week we got the call for some baby sitting from my daughter-in-law, Kristin. She is a lawyer who works part of her week at home. She had an important assignment that needed to be completed on her at home day. So we come over to help out. We would watch the kids. So she could get her legal work done.

Usually my wife, Gina, takes care of the baby. And I spend time with the two boys. Well, Matt in now four years old and his bother, Danny, is two. And they are both very active. And they both are very strong willed. It must be some kind of gene mutation because all of our family members seem to be extremely strong willed.

Well, everything was going great. Kristen was able to get into her work. And Gina and I had a lot of fun with the kids. And then things began to go downhill. It was bath time and Gina and I were going to supervise. We had a little problem deciding who would go first. Danny finally agreed to go first. But when he came upstairs he changed his mind. Danny decided he didn't want to take a bath. And he refused to take off his clothes.

And when Danny decides he doesn't want to do something he can be such a thick head. Well, here I was. Nose to nose with a two-year-old who did not want to cooperate. Luckily, I had all the appropriate words to deal with the situation. I reached back with my experience from twenty-five years of doing Parenting Workshops. And I said the words that needed to be said. Unfortunately, Danny was not listening to my words of wisdom.

And then Matt decided he wanted to take a bath. Matt raced into the bathroom, took off his clothes and jumped into the tub. Now Danny also wanted to get into the tub. So now we had two boys in the tub. I knew this was not the routine. I knew that Ross and Kristin usually had the boys in the tub one at a time. But I thought we could handle it.

Boy, was I wrong. The boys knew something was really wrong. Their Mom was downstairs working and Grandma and Grampa were allowing both boys in the tub.

Now the boys were getting loud. Now they were splashing. Now they were pushing and shoving in the tub. Gina and I decided to end the bath. We picked both kids up and moved them towards their bedroom. The boys were really upset. They said their mother let them stay in the tub a very long time. They said they didn't have to come out of the tub.

Gina and I moved the boys into their bedroom and fumbled thru getting two unhappy kids dressed.

Fortunately, when we all got downstairs the boys calmed down. And when they had their snack they seemed to forget about the trouble in the bathtub.

But I didn't forget the trouble. I was really hurt. I couldn't believe that my buddies would act like that to me. After all I had done for them. How could they? As we were leaving Matt sensed I was upset so he tried to be "nice" to me. But I left on a real sour note.

On the way home Gina and I had time to talk about what happened in the bathroom. We talked about breaking the routine of the bath. We were also in the awkward position of supervising them with their mother in the house. The kids knew that their mother was the real authority in the house. And Gina and I were more like their friends.

When we got home I felt a lot better. I realized that these guys are just kids. And they have their up moments and their down moments. I also realized that tomorrow is a new day. I had told the boys how I felt about the bath tub trouble. And now it was time to move on.

I told Gina that next time we have trouble with the boys I will remind them that I have been running Parenting Workshops for 25 years. And I even write a column for the Salem Evening News about family issues. But I guess that really doesn't mean much to kids.

Well, a couple of days later we got the call again for baby sitting. I had found a magnifying glass that would be perfect when we read "Where's Waldo." The boys loved the magnifying glass. And we sat right down in the reading chair. As we snuggled in the chair, the "trouble in the bath tub" was over. And we were buddies again. Kids have short memories. And they can forgive. I'll try to do the same.