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The Hillbilly Bath Tub

For those of you who like our hillbilly stories, you are going to love this one! And in case you are a new reader let me set this one up a bit. My husband is the oldest of 12 children. Yes, twelve. I was pregnant with my mother-in-law three times, which means my children each have an aunt or uncle their age. So it's not unusual for me to have three or four extra children staying with us for a couple of days at a time because if one comes they all want to come, and you know me, the more the merrier. So here's the story..... I'm standing on the porch watching the kids play in the pool, after playing in the muddy pond, thinking about the mess this is going to make to get these six wet and muddy little munchkins into the house and cleaned off, when a genius idea came to me. "What if I could wash six kids and a load of clothes all at one time? I can just pour in some soap and let them play! And they will love it too because what kid doesn't like bubbles? Then I can just hose the bubbles off before they come in....Yes, I think this could work! I mean it's not much different than people bathing in streams, right?" So I run to get the dish washing liquid and pour it in! They liked the idea too. LOL! In fact, I don't think they will ever want to bathe inside again! And I won the coolest-mom-ever award for having such an awesome plan! They really did come out pretty clean too! I was a little surprised that it worked as well as it did.
I see a lot more hillbilly baths in our future! Summer is here and the kids are looking forward to many more days just like that one, having their best friends over, playing til dark, getting in a pool full of bubbles, and coming in to eat junk food and watch movies. Could it be any better than that when your a kid?
Of course they will have to have a real bath and eat real food most of the time, but that's what will make these days even better! I did really wash the clothes in the end! LOL! But I didn't make them take real baths. Nope. That would have ruined the story. I let those little goats come in just like they were and put on clean PJ's. We stayed up until 2 am watching movies and then we were up again at 9am, bathing suits on, and headed to my mom's house for Memorial Day. I wonder if my Martha (my Mother-in-law) would just let me have these kids for the Summer? LOL! I think I had as much fun as they did!

Comments

Unknown said…
We used to take baths/showers in the sprinkler in the yard during the summer! Bring out the shampoo! Hubby's family took them under the rain spout when it was raining--but with a bazillion grandkids and kids still at home, and one bathroom that ran with a well pump--I think that was the only way!
laura said…
What a fabulous story ... a lesson to me to (1) lighten up (2) go with the flow and (3) enjoy summer freedom!
Loral said…
Great story! I let my kids lather up and jump in our river to get clean- there are hillbillies up north, too ;-) I love the picture of them camped out watching a movie, they will have such fun memories of their times together!
Fine Stitchery said…
Well, don't think you've come up with a new idea Samantha!! LOL! I grew up in the '50s, 5 brothers, many boy cousins and me, we had a swimming pool which was pretty unusual back then but my mom used to do the same thing! A good squirt of Ivory dishwashing soap and have at it. We were in our bathing suits, tho. And my dad would get sooo mad because it upset the pool chemicals but my mom didn't care, he wasn't bathing kids or cleaning the tub. And the pool had chlorine in it - that's bleach, right? So there you go - clean kids with minimal effort! I don't EVER recall being allowed to stay up till 2AM, tho, and we NEVER ate junk food, drank soda, wore sneakers or went barefoot! This was in Northern IL.
maribeth said…
oh, we do that several times in the summer, but we are from tennessee, so maybe it is hillbilly! it makes way more sense to me than running another tub of water and transporting the kids from one to another!
Molly said…
Ha ha ha! Love it! And you cleaned the pool at the same time...you're a genius! And the best part...you're making wonderful memories that will last a lifetime!
Mindy said…
Wonderful story, and good idea. I'll have to give it a try!
Dawn said…
Okay Sam....my kids want to come live at your house. When I showed them the pictures they went crazy and said "Mama...can we do that too?" Thank goodness we don't have a pool or they would have done the exact same thing. Every now and then we all need to embrace our inner-hillbilly ...honestly, it sounds like so much fun!!!! Can we come play?
Alison said…
Haha! I better not let my kids see these pics... or maybe...? Looks like a bit too much fun!
~cjoy said…
Oh, I will definitely have to let my kids do this! haha!

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