Bathtime Buddies

Last week, both of my boys were in dire need of some cleansing and Patrick was working the late shift. I didn't think I could give two baths after Patrick's return, but before bed, and still expect to eat dinner. So, I considered the possibility of giving two baths in one (i.e. two boys in one bathtub at the same time). After considering it, I thought, "What, are you absolutely insane?" and promptly dismissed the idea as pure craziness and continued on with my day and on with my two smelly boys. But I guess their smelliness really started to wear on me, or maybe Nolan's post-lunch face, hands, arms, and hair got to me more than usual, because I broke down and casually mentioned the word "bath" in front of Nolan. Now, you must understand the reality is that there is no such thing as casually saying anything that sounds or even looks like bath. If Nolan gets the idea in his head, there is no erasing it and there is also no getting his clothes back on. Just say, mouth, or think the word and you'll have a cute little brown-eyed boy, prancing around, naked, chanting, "bas, bas, bas..." At this point, all that can be done to remedy the situation is to fill up the tub. Well, on this particular day, I went for the gusto (I really just like the phrase Go For the Gusto) and prepared to stick my two boys in a bath together. I'm sorry for the story's sake to say that everything went smoothly. Better than smooth. They absolutely loved it and there were no accidents to speak of. Isn't that amazing? They just had such a blast together that I don't think I'll give separate baths anymore.

The truth is: These boys are more than just bathtime buddies. They are best friends all the time. I'm not exaggerating. Nothing makes Gerret laugh more than Nolan. All he has to do is look at the baby and the laughter bubbles and rolls and oozes out. Nolan gets a kick out of most everything the baby does. He is so interested in him. He is so eager to help him. Now that Gerret is eating solids, Nolan takes the opportunity to spoon feed him. He invites the baby into his crib after naps and covers him up and reads him books and bounces him and plays peek-a-boo with him. It's a ritual. Nolan loves to do things with the baby, which is why the bath was so successful. We went to a playground recently where they had Nolan's favorite playground toy: a big pretend car -the kind that has multiple steering wheels for selfishness prevention. Whenever Nolan sees these cars, he invariably forgets about the rest of the playground. He will choose them over spraygrounds, twisty slides, rocks, lake swimming, and food. And he will drive for as long as you let him and then beg to continue driving when you say it's time to go. When we found this special car last week, his primary concern was that Gerret got to drive too. Nolan kept patting the seat next to his and yelling "Daydee dive" and went bonkers with excitement when I broke my back to help the baby sit inside the car and pretend to drive. As usual, Gerret got a kick out of Nolan's excitement and just laughed and laughed. Children make everything so much brighter. They make me think that maybe the world isn't so bad and that there may still be hope for the future. All children are special, but there is a different feeling, a much stronger and more emotional one, when I think of my own, especially because their love for one another is so evident and so sweet. When I watch them interact I can't help feeling that this is what life is about.