Shower

Quiet, calm and clean. I enter my warm shower, my mind wanders as my body gets to relax. I think of it as a spa- I breath and relish in the tranquility.

Within moments along the shower curtain I sense something.

Long fingers, one by one grasp the curtain and slowly move it back a tad. Then more, until one eye is visible. I look into the eye and then a whole face emerges, looking at me longingly yet solemn. Quiet and calm are about to escape the shower, the bathroom and perhaps the whole house.

Get out of mommies shower! I yell.

Shrill yells begin as my toddler tries even harder to convince me that he needs to be in my shower.
"Agua" he says.
"No, its mommies shower -no water- get out."
He doesn't leave and I'm not giving in.
We go back and forth until he gets distracted by some toys I throw at him. I hope to get 5 more minutes and the water is getting cold.

He plays in a bucket of water with a squeeze toy and bottle of almost empty baby wash. He slaps the water and makes a mess all over the clean bathroom. My rug is soaked, my kid is soaked and my serene surroundings now look like a tiny tot water park.

When play time is no longer enough, he pulls back my shower curtain again and yells, while trying to lift one leg high enough to enter the tub.

"Get out!" Mommy needs to take shower by herself- leave me alone."

He cries, and cries, and because I didn't do anything about said crying he cries louder.

I haven't had a quiet, complete shower in 3 years. I'm lucky when I can remove the children from my hip long enough to get a shower in. I shouldn't be surprised.