The young and innocent don’t have a care in the world. They don’t have to worry about anything because their whole world revolves around play. They can do whatever they want and can get away with almost anything.

The downside of being a kid, however, is your parents have authority over your life. They get to choose what food you’re going to eat, what clothes you’re going to wear, what TV shows you’re going to watch, etc.

As a mom, I have the privilege of dictating what my son will use for bathing. Talk about a MacGyver mom! My husband and I didn’t buy him a baby bath tub because we knew he would outgrow it in no time. We made do with whatever the adults at home are using for bathing or for washing clothes. We don’t think our son’s deprived, though, because he enjoys every minute of his bathing time whether he’s inside an improvised bathtub or not.


Inside our little red pail


In our laundry tub


No improvised bath tub here, just playing while bathing

Do you see what I mean?

When Justin was just a baby (he still is, but he looks big for his age that I keep forgetting he’s still a baby) and even up to now, bathing my son is a task that I don’t delegate to his yaya (nanny), although in his first few months I would be asking his yaya for help.

When I went back to work after my maternity leave, I remember having to wake my son up early to give him his morning bath. He actually took his bath at 6am on weekdays.

I also never bothered buying my son a baby bath tub. Kids grow so fast, and I figured he would soon outgrow it, so it’s really just a waste of money. I made do with what’s in our bathroom, our ever reliable pail (“balde”) and wash basin (“batya”). Bath time isn’t complete without the water dipper, too (“tabo”).

This picture was taken a few days before Justin's first birthday

And here's a recent picture of Justin while taking a bath

Justin enjoys taking his bath, although lately, it would take a while to make him go to the bathroom because he doesn’t want his play interrupted. But once he immerses himself in the water, there’s no stopping him from turning the faucet on and off, pretending to wash clothes by constantly wringing his washcloth after dipping it into the water, or slathering the water dipper with soap.

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