We were in the process of having a wonderful fourth of July celebration. Our tummies were full, the sun was hot and the pool was perfect. We were at Grandma & Grandpa's, so we could be wild and crazy in the pool - as is our typical custom. We had been swimming for quite a while when Bennett decided he had had enough and was ready to go inside for a snack. Before I tell you what he did, let lay the backdrop...
Grandma & Grandpa's pool is surrounded by a very hot, aggregate, rock deck . So, Grandma had the brilliant idea of laying down a bunch of old towels and wetting them down with the hose. This ensured that when anyone got out of the pool they would step on a nice cool surface of wet towesl and not burn their little piggy toes. All the other dry towels were hanging on the backs of various patio chairs. With that being said...
So, as we last saw Bennett, he was on his way out of the pool, intent on drying off and heading inside. All the rest of us were in the pool. As he exits the pool, he immediately bends down and picks up the sopping wet towel off the hot pool deck and starts wiping his face. We were all laughing so hard we couldn't even form the words to tell him that there were dry towels sitting on the chairs. He used that towel for a bit, then layed it back down on the soaking wet patio and picked up yet another drenched towel and wrapped it around his sweet, innocent, wet three year old little body and sat down on the steps to continue his 'drying off process'. If he had a clue that the towel was sopping wet and as heavy as him, he didn't let on.
The reason this 'Wet Towel Syndrome' didn't bother Bennett is, unfortunately, because that's all he ever seems to get at home too. Poor kid, all he's ever been used to are wet towels - I don't think he even knows what a dry towel feels like. Since we normally bathe all three kids together at bath time, by the time we're done drying the first two off, the last one (usually Bennett) is left with a rather soggy towel. To him, this is perfectly normal. You may be thinking "why don't you just use 3 towels to dry off each child individually?" and that is a very valid question. The answer however, isn't as simple as you may think. First of all, the towel rack in the bathroom only holds two towels (neatly). Second, two of the little people in the tub are really only 'half-sized' (Chloe & Bennett), so logistically speaking, you should be able to clean off two half-sized persons with one large, big person sized towel. Are you following my train of thought here? And lastly, I'm just not a big fan of washing two or three loads of towels a week, so the more we can 'recycle' our towels - the better. We even have a rallying cry we use as an incentive to get our kids out of the bath, it goes like this, "The first one out gets the dry towel".
You can only imagine what kind of family we are when having the chance to get a dry towel after your bath is an incentive! My children are going to be in awe as the grow up and visit other kids' households and find out that other families do not have the same customs and traditions as we do. But until that day, we will continue to hold fast to our family's traditions and pray our children will pass them down to each generation.
Jul 5, 2005
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