Rainmakers

You know how it always rains after you wash your car? Our kids are like that, but in reverse. We don't bathe them as often as they probably ought to be bathed, but inevitably, when we do, they'll be dirty again within the day. Today is an excellent case in point.

We had a party to attend this evening, so we thought we'd bathe the kids and have them nice and clean for the party - not to mention that we have church tomorrow. So, we bathed them, which is an experience unto itself. Joseph took great delight in trying to eat the bubbles, at one point leaning over to immerse his face in them and then quickly sitting upright, a bit startled by the encounter. The remainder of the time, he scooped bubbles up with his hand and into his mouth.

So, here we were with clean boys, ready for the party. We put them in nice clean clothes, and headed out in the evening. It was a small housewarming/Christmas party with one of Amy's high school friends. After the boys had exhausted the sites of the house, they asked to go out into the back yard to play. The back yard is awaiting grass and other landscaping, and is currently just a patch of dirt - great for little boys to run around in; and that's exactly what they did.

Ben came in at one point, dusty, and reported that Josh had taken to throwing dirt. There's nothing new about that, Josh seems to enjoy casting dirt into the air, or into the hair. Amy compared Josh to Pigpen, from the Peanuts comic strip, roaming the yard kicking up a cloud of dust about him. But of course, Josh has always attracted dust, like a magnet attracts iron. So, having arrived at the party with nice clean children, ready for the Sabbath, we left with dirty runs, ready for a bath.

In any case, so it goes: wash a car, make rain; wash a child, make dirt.