For as long as I can remember, my mum has always taken a bath that only had about three inches of water in it.  I could never understand it. My idea of a bath was as a way to relax; a minimum of 30 minutes soak-time in plenty of bubbles and with the water up to your neck.

So here we are in 2018. I have a daughter who is 13 months old and she LOVES water. And bubbles. And the sound of running water. And to get completely soaked.

I stopped being able to take proper showers about half a year ago. I can’t shut her out of the bathroom when we’re at home alone together and when she’s in the bathroom with me it is complete chaos. She holds the shower curtain back, she reaches for the water, she shouts and screams in excitement and she creates puddles of shower water all over the floor. That’s option A of me getting clean. It’s not a good choice.

Option B is to have her in the shower with me. It basically has the same effect as with option A except that I have a slippery, moving child in the shower as well. I spend more time making sure that she doesn’t slip and fall over or empty all of the shampoo bottles out into the bath than actually having a shower.

Option C is….and I hate to say it…the Mum Bath. Three inches of water (my daughter can’t reach the water from the side of the bath), minimum wash time, maximum cleanliness. I splash around for about two minutes and am ready to go. My daughter stands at the side of the bath and screams at me that she can’t get in too but at least I am ready and out in a flash.

So, Mum, I now get it. And I understand why my sister also does this too (even now, when her two children are teenagers).