The other week, my wife was giving the kids a bath and they made a huge mess in the bathroom. They kept pouring water onto the floor and the side of the tub after a few chances to fix their behavior. My wife said that they lost privileges for a long time and that we would only be giving them showers for a while because they couldn’t be responsible when they took a bath. A long time meant only a couple days…

My kids normally take showers. A bath usually uses a lot of water and it takes forever because they constantly want to play and play (sometimes this isn’t a bad thing!). Also, they do end up making a mess here and there, but in the past they usually listened when we asked them not to spray water outside the tub or on purposely pour water onto the floor. For some reason on the day they lost their privileges, they chose to not listen many times and on the last time they made the biggest mess they’ve ever made in the bathroom.

Rightfully so, my wife was very upset at them. She did clean up the mess quickly and told them that they weren’t allowed to take a bath for a while. Only a few days later, they were back in the tub taking a bath. As you can imagine what would happen next, they made a huge mess again. As the saying goes, fool me once, shame on you…fool me twice, shame on me. I think that in the case of taking something away, we have to mean it and hold ourselves to it as parents (within reason). I know I am not always the perfect judge of that, but I do want my kids to understand what a privilege looks and feels like before they choose to be mischievous. I gave my wife a look when I saw the kids in the tub again taking a bath only a few days after the incident. It did make me smile because I know she just wants them to have a good time as kids. We aren’t always going to get the balance right since everyone has different ideas about what is the right path forward, and as long as we are trying our best (and apologizing for our mistakes), we can only hope the kids grow up and appreciate their childhood.