6.26.2007

Reading in the bathroom is not glamorous but few things about parenting are

Before having kids, laying in bed reading was one of my favorite activities. Big mound of pillows behind my head. Pillow top bed. Four hundred thread count sheets. Snuggled right in with a good book. Since having kids, I’ve discovered the bathroom is my best bet. Which is unfortunate because the step stool next to the bathtub while my kids bathe is a lot less comfy. So it goes.

I started leaving whatever book I’m reading on the back of the toilet. It’s as if I’m slowly morphing into my husband. He stores all his wordly reading material in the bathroom. The man even got himself a magazine holder to put on the floor next to the toilet at one point. He complains that I own four curling irons while he's busy amassing a small library of woodworking magazines next to the trashcan. As if.

My new reading strategy is one or two pages per visit. Two or three pages while my three year old brushes her teeth. And a good solid fifty pages while the kids take a bath. Oh, how I love bath time. Oh, how I love any activity that keeps both of them happy and confined for longer than 3 minutes. They are welcome to use every drop of hot water in the house. They are welcome to fling water everywhere flooding the floor. Just, in the name of all that’s good and right in the world, stay there and play quietly so I can finish a chapter.

When a book gets good, I end up lingering in the bathroom long after activities have ended. Last night my husband caught me still sitting on the side of the bathtub long after my three year old put her Hello Kitty toothbrush away and cruised off down the hall. I was trying to finish up the new Sarah Mlynowski book Me vs. Me. I haven’t liked it as much as her other ones. But I think that’s because I really liked Milkrun. But this one’s cute.

I think I’ve had a hard time identifying with the main girl because she’s a total doormat. I’m all about being a nice person, too, but you gotta keep it real. Or at least learn how to turn your ringer off to avoid people. And if you're Jewish and your future mother-in-law buys you a six foot painting of Jesus to hang in your living room, stop trying to get her to like you. She's not that into you.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, I totally thought I was the only mom that was reading in the bathroom. Sometimes I go in and pretend I am going and just sit there and read...

a happier girl said...

You are not alone! I've done that too. A moment alone is such a nice treat no matter how you come by it.

Christy said...

Oh, to read a book again. I would love it. I can't even get away with reading while she is in the tub, she constantly wants you to play with her.

I have to say though something is going to have to change when the new Harry Potter comes out!

a happier girl said...

Yeah, when my pre-ordered Harry Potter book arrives I'm not sure what I'm going to do. It's unlikely my kids will agree to take six hour long baths. But I don't think I'll be able to restrain myself from reading it cover to cover immediately. I'm dying to find out who's going to die in this one. I was bummed enough by the death at the end of the last one I can't guarantee I won't sink into a pathetic depression if Harry dies in this one.

Anonymous said...

What a great idea. I can usually get a couple of pages in while Dora is on and it catches their attention for about 3 minutes. I'm going to try bathtime!

a happier girl said...

It helps if you don't mind sitting on the floor either. Which I've discovered I don't.

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