Two Against One

When there are more children at home than parents, I’ve heard it said you have to go from man-on-man to a zone defense. Such was the case this morning at our house. Wes was at work, and I was going to give Austin a bath. I figured I could keep a better eye on Addison if she were in the bathroom with us instead of roaming the house by her little two-year-old self. I strategically placed the heater up out of her reach, responsibly tucking the cord behind the cabinet. I had a towel ready, a clean diaper and onesie, wipes, diaper cream, pacifier (bathtime is not his favorite time of day), and toys for Addison. I realized about the same time she did that the Kleenex box was within her reach. I was feeling pretty good about things because she only pulled out 3 tissues before I picked it up. I get Austin down to his diaper and look over at Addison to find her left leg hiked up over the side of the tub, reaching for a bath toy with her little body teetering on the edge of the bathtub. I get her down, proceed to remove Austin’s diaper and realize I’m hearing splashing, but Austin’s not in his bath yet. I turn around to find Addison holding the toilet seat up in one hand, splashing in the toilet with the other. I think about several ways to handle my situation- trying to avoid all the inherent dangers of bathtime, and decide to hand her wipes to “play with” and clean her hands. I quickly realize this is not the solution I’m looking for as she dips them in the toilet and brings them toward her face (the toilet lock, mind you, is on the floor beside the toilet, just waiting to be installed). I intercept the wipes before they reach her face and look around for anything heavy enough to keep her from opening the lid again. The closest thing I see is Austin’s car seat by the back door, which works out well, because now I have a place to put him! I set him down in his seat on top of the toilet, throw away our toilet-wipes, and take her into the kitchen to wash her hands. We did finally succeed at bathing Austin without any injuries, burns or drownings. I guess I should just be thankful he didn’t pee on anything and she hasn’t figured out how to flush her toys down the toilet yet!