A Bath Time Rhyme

There is a time in the lives of children when they don't have to be bribed or coerced to take a bath. At that stage, the tub is just another fun venue for imaginative play, with the added advantage that they get to splash.

It was that way with my own children when I first drafted this poem in 1986, and it remains as a steadfast truth today as the family has undergone a little revision to include six grandkids.

This great picture of Beenie and Heero illustrates the joy of bath time. The poem follows. Maybe you would like to share it with a little person you love.

 A Bath Time Rhyme

Some evenings when I take my bath,

then I pretend to be

a fish a-swimming in a school

of five or four or three.

Sometimes I like to jump and splash

and swish my fishy tail,

or glub-glub-glub some bubbles

in a glub-glub bubble trail.

Some evenings when I take my bath,

then I pretend to be

a shark, and all the swimmers run

when they catch sight of me.

I glide through rippling waters,

all sleek and slick and black,

a-circling with my giant fin

and then a-circling back.

Some evenings when I take my bath,

then I pretend to be

an octopus with eight long arms

that look quite spidery.

I wave to all my seaborne friends--

to lobsters, clams, and more--

and ride a seahorse--giddy up!--

across the ocean floor.

Some evenings when I take my bath,

then I pretend to be

a pirate in a pirate's ship

a-sailing out to sea.

I sing "Yo-ho" and off I go

to find my treasure chest

with Jolly Roger waving

as I undertake my quest.

Some evenings when I take my bath,

I'm just a normal kid.

I like to play with rubber ducks

and cups without a lid.

I'll wash with soap and then dry off;

I'll hop in bed, and then

I'll wait until tomorrow night

to do it all again!