Hidden dangers.

My confession: Generally speaking, if Henry fills his pants (I know. Glorious way to begin a post) anytime within an hour of bathtime/bedtime... he's gonna walk around fully loaded until it's time to get ready for bed. Maybe it's because I know Josh will be home really soon... and why go through the ugh of changing a nastified diaper if Daddy can come home and do it? Maybe it's a subconscious thing left over from our poorest of poor days when Jordan was a baby and each, individual diaper had an actual, visible, dollar amount attached to the front of it... to change a diaper, only to take it off an hour later for bathtime? Painfully wasteful. So, it happens. Such is life.

When it DOES happen, the clean up is never quite as thorough when I know I'm going to go plunk Henry in a bathtub full of soapy water. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing visible left remaining, but I might pass on the final go over when I know the tub is waiting. All of that may seem like really awful, unneccesary details. I promise I have a point.

A few nights ago, Sam and Lucy were already in the tub soaped up when I tossed Henry, freshly depooped in beside them. They played for a few minutes while I cleaned up the loft, right outside the bathroom. Laughter, and squealing, and water splashing on the floor pulled me back to the now soggy bathroom... the cause? Sam and Lucy were filling their cheeks with warm bathwater, and then spitting it all over each other, the walls, the floor. Nice.

So I say, "Children! Do you know what I wiped off your brother before I put him in the bathtub? What if I didn't get it all?! You're drinking water that your filthy behind, and Henry's even filthier behind is sitting in!"

I watched as the water slowly dribbled from their now frowning faces... I think when Sam washed, he may have actually scrubbed his tongue with soap.

And so I found and taught a life lesson in dirty bath water. The water, for all intents and purposes looked clean. But the danger was there, lurking just beyond visibility. And so are many of life's situations... pristine and perfect on the outside, funny, entertaining, enticing, and yet... upon closer inspection, teeming with vile and disgusting squalor. Swish that around in your mouth and see how it tastes.