The usual stereotype is that a typical kid would rather do almost anything to avoid taking a bath (think Calvin of Calvin & Hobbes fame). I however used to love taking them (I’d be able to use my toy submarine to imagine myself being an intrepid submarine captain batting bug-eyed monsters), and thus never really grasped this mindset (plus Calvin often seems to love taking them in the end anyway despite himself).
So how about you? And your kids-do they take after you? Almost made a poll out of this, but it would have been far too complicated if I included options for your children.
As a kid, I liked taking a bath unless my dad was administering the shampoo rinse. He would take a cooking pot full of water and dump it over my head without any attempt to avoid getting shampoo in my eyes.
I always loved playing in water, but baths, not so much.
Once I was old enough to take showers I never went back.
MrTao’s boys take showers, but will avoid them until forced to take them, lol.
My kids are two cats and a dog. The dog doesn’t HATE them, and is quite frisky and happy AFTERWARDS, but he’s not a big fan.
The cats…dunno. I’m not brave enough to try.
I loved the bath. As soon as I was old enough to be left alone, it was a guaranteed hour of peace for my parents every evening. After an hour they figured the water was cold and it was time to get out.
So far my daughter loves them, too. I can’t hardly wait till she’s old enough to leave alone. I could use an hour of peace.
I loved taking baths as a kid. We had a big, deep, old-fashioned claw foot (covered by tiles, unfortunately) bathtub in the apartment I grew up in. It was great. I’d sit in there playing with bath toys - making mad scientist concoctions out of talcum powder and shaving cream - until the water got cold, then I’d add more hot water. When I was 12 I was going through a very difficult time and the bathtub was my escape from the world. I’d lie there with my ears under the water for at least an hour. I’d even take a bath when I went home from school for lunch. Apparently one night I missed a big screaming, cussing, door-slamming fight my dad and his skanky then-girlfriend had because my ears were under the water.
I really disliked taking baths. Once we added a shower, it was not so bad. I guess my kids always had showers available, so they didn’t mind so much once they were old enough to use the shower.
Despised them as a kid in winters – my dad was a cheapskate (except for himself), and the bathroom for family use was freezing cold in the winter. He wouldn’t let my mother run more than enough water to cover the bottom of the tub, so ‘taking a bath’ in an inch or so of water in a cold room, ugh. (He, of course, had a fully refurbished bathroom of his own with a really nice, modern shower, and it was toasty warm, as his bathroom shared a brick wall with the kitchen fireplace).
I remember staying over night with a friend once as a kid, and her mom running us a full-on bubble bath to play in, and being really upset that my friend’s dad would scream at us for wasting so much water to fill the tub.
Eventually my brother defied my dad and fixed the shower in the family bathroom, so I’ve preferred showers ever since. When I lived at home with that miserly git it was frequently the only time anyone could ever really get warm in the winter, although he’d shut off the hot water heater around 5pm every evening, then take a shower and use up all the hot water. :mad:
This exactly. Whenever my mom got ready to wash my hair, my sister had to go over to our neighbor’s house and warn them, so they didn’t hear the bloodcurdling screams and call the police.
Loved it. I’d play with all my little boats and toys. Except when I was really little and my mother would wash my face. She’d always end up getting soap in my nose, and that SUCKED. It worse than having soap in your eyes.
No recollection of taking baths as a kid; I suspect my parents moved me to showers pretty young. My mom instilled in me a logical distaste for baths, because you end up laying in the dirty water you just made. Even as a kid that seemed gross to me.
My kids loved baths but hate showers, although it’s as hard to get them to turn off the water as it is to get them to get in. They both have long hair though, and washing & conditioning it is a hassle, admittedly.
