Tonight I’m a football widow, at least that’s what I think I’ve heard it called. Michael took the three oldest children over to my folks’ house to watch the Superbowl. We don’t have cable tv here, so the fans had to search elsewhere for a place to watch the game.

Can you believe I was actually tickled when the house was finally left to just me and my three babies? I couldn’t decide what fun things I would do with my three youngest children, but I was looking forward to having some time to focus on them. I had to smile at myself, because just a few short years ago I would have felt overwhelmed and abandoned to be left at home with three children ages five and under. But now that “three children” is only half the gang, it feels strangely celebratory to have “only” three kiddos.

We haven’t done anything too exciting, but we made a fruit smoothy to share, and then we played with the computer some. Next Mike hugged me and said, “I want to take a bath.” Hmmm. Not anything I would consider hugely entertaining, but I finally decided it wouldn’t hurt anything. I ran a hot bath, and Miguel dumped a bunch of toys into the sudsy water. He played for a while, and once he was done, Judah wanted to climb in. So here I sit, playing on the laptop, watching my baby play in the tub. Oh sure, I have to keep rescuing the laptop from water splashes, but it’s fun to see how much fun a kid can have in the bath.

Now Amelia and Mike have wandered back upstairs, not wanting to be left alone downstairs any more. They’re having fun playing with Judah, and no doubt Judah feels like a prince with two servants waiting on him. I suppose we’ll have wet sleeves and more water messes, but hey, it’s well worth the price of the entertainment. Bedtime is actually past, so as soon as this bath is over, I’ll toss everyone into bed and try to get some real computer work done.

Sometimes when my mother has the children over for a visit, she’ll comment that they played in the bath for a long time. I guess I see now why it’s such a treat.