I have two kids who were born less than two years apart. Those early days of two under two were a blur. A newborn and a 20-month-old is hard. Life with two toddlers is harder. Three? I can only imagine (and am not planning to find out).
My kids were pretty typical as toddlers, bouncing off the walls, feeling all of the emotions all the time, and constantly snacking, exploring, and testing boundaries. My husband works long hours and most weekends, so my days alone with them were often classified as a) long or b) longer. It was a blur of cooking, cleaning, wiping noses, drying tears, kissing boo-boos, cuddling, chasing, redirecting, carrying, laughing, and eventually collapsing.
As moms, we all try to come up with fun activities to pass the time and keep our kids engaged. But, even now that my kids are no longer toddlers, on particularly long or challenging days, I still resort to what I declare the best toddler mom hack ever.
Enter…the Popsicle Bath. Or, the Popsicle Tubby, as we call it in our house.
It’s pretty simple: 1) throw your kids in the bath, and 2) hand them each a popsicle. Simple but oh so genius! In my experience, the Popsicle Tubby is a great way to:
- entice a bath-fearing kid into getting in the bath with minimal fuss
- distract the kid who hates shampooing or rinsing said shampoo
- turn around a bad day or a bad mood (kids and moms included)
- calm and soothe a sick kiddo
- diffuse a sibling fight
- minimize the mess that usually accompanies a Popsicle
- give mom a break
Full disclosure: I did not come up with this idea on my own. It came from the amazing @busytoddler (who I follow on Instagram and absolutely adore). But I can, after road testing it countless times, vouch for its geniosity! In the words of Susie from @busytoddler…
The Popsicle Tubby is your “ace in the hole; the mother of all toddler activities, and the holy grail of kid fixes (if you will).”
