Splish Splash- Let's Talk About The Bath!

When we were in our first prental class the teacher suggested that the dad have one child task that the mother never did- that way he could become the expert. We chose bathing. Now 5 years later my husband still does most of the bath nights- I help by getting towels and jammies. However last night daddy was working late- the baby C had mushed food in her hair- there was no avoiding it. I was going to have to bath the three girls. It starts off so well when they realize it is bath night........

The girls squeal in delight and run upstairs super excited- i clean the bathtub and fill it up with water- they clamber in. Then S. is "a mermaid" and baby C won't sit down and starts screaming when i try to get her to sit. Then S screams when i suggest we wash her hair. As if they didn't know that was what we were doing in the tub in the first place. Baby C screams b/c her sister is screaming. Tears start flowing, snot is flying. I have to haul Baby C out of the tub dripping wet and into her crib b/c she's hysterical and i cannot get S's hair done otherwise. S *almost* lays down and gets about 1% of her hair wet. I put my hand under her head and gently lower it- whispering soft soothing words. She screams at the top of her lungs. She starts lashing out like a cat. I put on the shampoo and let her lather it up. Then we have to rinse. She decides she needs to lay down on a pillow- our only bath pillow is too high and her hair won't get wet. We try to negotiate. Finally I just rinse her hair. She flails everywhere and gets water in her face. She screams and I think she's going to bite me so I cover her mouth. I finish rinsing her hair - i'm not going to stop now then have to deal with it all over again. Then I dry her face. She smiles- " i'm' so good mom I didn't even cry"....no kiddo you didn't cry.....you just screamed bloody murder. Then I get Baby C from her crib- she looks like a drowned rat and we've not even started. I bring her to the tub and she clings to me like a monkey and I have to pry her off and try to bring her to the tub. She looks very suspicious. I tell her it will be ok- i just need to get her hair washed then they can play - and i slowly lower her head to the water and she opens her mouth and screams and then flips over- face first into the water. If she wasn't mad before now she's spitting mad and a bit scared too. I try to move fast- by the end she's furious with me. I'm so glad N can manage it on her own now. This is the first year she is not screaming too. When i'm done i'm just d-o-n-e.

I've tried to use water to pour on their heads, i've tried to use water from the tap, i've tried the shower. The girls just scream and claw and climb up onto my head (in the case of the shower). Any suggestions- how do you bathe your children?

If my kids stink- pity me don't judge me.