Handle My Kids With Care

Bath Time

"Okay, who's first for a bath?" I looked at the five youngest, but only three could really respond to me.

"Just go oldest to youngest." Minho suggested from the couch, and I looked at Changbin who was playing on the floor.

"Okay, Binnie. Bath time." The four year old sighed, but got up and followed me into the bathroom.

"You usually tell me how your day was. What happened today?"

"I tried making friends with someone but he was very grumpy." The four year old pouted and I turned on the water.

"Just give him a little time. I'm sure you'll make plenty of-" My words were cut off by Felix's cries, followed by Jeongin's high pitched ones.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know! You turned on the water and he flipped out!" Minho yelled, and I looked at Changbin. The four year old played happily in the water and I started washing his hair. I couldn't just leave him in the water.

"He won't stop." Minho said from the bathroom doorway and I sighed. That much was obvious after Jeongin stopped crying.

"Here. Dry him off." I tossed the seven year old a towel and walked into the living room. Felix was right where I had left him, but as soon as he saw me he crawled over and I picked him up.

He clung to me tightly, crying into me as I tried to quiet him. When Changbin came back out to the living room in his pajamas with Minho, the one year old hadn't really calmed down much.

"Lixie, it's okay. I'm okay." I didn't understand what Changbin was doing, but Felix looked up from my shoulder with his tear stained face and just stared at his brother.

"It's okay." He repeated, and Felix sniffed a couple of times before I put him down.

"What was that about?" Minho asked, and I shrugged, completely confused myself.

"The water." The four year old answered like it was plainly obvious. It took me a minute to realize Felix had heard the bath water and got scared.

"Do you want to sit in the bathroom and watch?" Felix nodded at Changbin's question and I looked at Hyunjin who was sleeping on the floor.

"Jisung, it's your turn." I picked up the two year old before he could run away and held him tightly since he was squirming all over the place. I knew all I had to do was get him in the water and the little squirrel would be fine. But I still had to get him in there.

Felix followed us in and sat down on the floor near the door. Not too close to the water, but he could still see no one was drowning.

"Jisung, please. It's almost bed time and I still have four more kids to go." He hesitated at my reasoning, and I took the moment to plop him into the water. The two year old pouted but stayed put in the water, splashing around a bit while it scooped water onto his head and washed him.

"Okay, Lix. Your turn." I finished ruffling Jisung's hair with the towel and handed him to Minho so the seven year old could get him into pajamas.

I looked over to see Felix sitting there shaking his head aggressively, tears already springing to his eyes. It was getting very close to their bedtime and I was exhausted. There was no way I was fighting these kids.

"Okay, okay. Let's try something different." I grabbed a washcloth from the box I still hadn't unpacked and wet it in the sink. He luckily accepted that form of cleaning and I could get him into bed.

"How do I still have three left?"