It's funny how much your home requirements change when you become a parent. All of a sudden, the sharp corners, loose wires and smashable vases are more hazard than home decor. Now that Ebony is five, the house can be pretty much how I want it albeit with an unfortunate layer of 'accidental' felt tip pen scribbles over the top (one day I might paint over this) but with Ember crawling and cruising, we're very much back in that baby-proofing stage. The fire hearth is covered in cushions to prevent nasty bumps, laptop wires are quickly tidied away after use and we're all on red alert for stray pieces of lego.
The bathroom is a room that I'm particularly terrified of. Why do they make bathroom tiles so damn hard? I live in constant fear that Ember is going to crack her head on the floor or wall. I've spent a while thinking about how I would redesign the room to make it work better with a mobile baby. Here's a list of the things I've decided all family bathrooms need:
1. Storage
Bathrooms accumulate so much crap, don't they (pun intended)? I bought so much anti-aging stuff from Superdrug last week that they sent me approximately eight million packs of cleansing wipes. Thank god we have bathroom storage is all I can say. Last year, we replaced our standard sink with a furniture sink that has two huge drawers beneath. I love it. Finally, I have plenty of storage and the room doesn't look cluttered. The only problem is that it is in Ember's reach so I'm now living a life of fear about all the chemicals I keep in that bottom drawer.
2. A Separate Shower
Our house just has a shower above the bath, but our old house had a separate shower cubicle and I loved it. For one, babies don't accidentally poop in your shower cubicle like they do in your bath so, at the very least, you have somewhere clean to wash after your bath has been crapped in (don't pretend this doesn't happen to you). I used to leave Ebony playing on the floor and then have a shower. She didn't panic because she could still me and I didn't panic because I could still see her through the glass cubicle (check out the huge walk in showers on this website).
3. Space
Our bathroom is tiny and it doesn't really work well for family life. If I'm in the shower, Ember is playing on the floor and Ebony is washing her hands, the room is officially cramped. I don't have claustrophobia, but if I did, I would need a bigger bathroom. Family bathrooms should have space for the whole family even though all parents want is to use the damn bathroom in peace.
4. Huge Baths
Nobody wants to take a bath with their whole family (apart from my five-year-old who wants exactly that pretty much every day) but there should be enough space in the bath that you can, should you wish to. I don't wish to, yet every damn bath I end up with at least a baby in there and often a five-year-old as well. I wish the bath was bigger.
5. To Not Be Home To The Only Toilet
Small children have no manners, they won't wait for you to finish your relaxing bath before they stroll in and take a dump on the toilet. My bathroom is so small that, when bathing, my head is right next to the toilet. Lovely. Also, grim when you have a child who needs the toilet. The downstairs toilet has changed my life.
6. Bubbles
All family bathrooms should have a never-ending supply of bubbles. Bubble bath, bath bombs, gels, lotions... kids love them all. As do I. Also, candles. On the rare occasions that I get to have a bath all by myself, I want to enjoy it. It must feel like a mini spa getaway in the comfort of my own home. And, when I don't get a bath to myself, I at least want to see the glee on my five-year-old's face when we use a bath bomb or the joy my baby feels when she eats bubble bath. I'm currently enjoying bath products made by The Dirty Vegans.
7. A Cleaner
We don't have a cleaner (or a clean bathroom), but we should. I would love to have a clean, especially one who was charged with making the bathroom sparkle again. I think I would enjoy the bathroom way more if we had a cleaner. Without one, my bathroom is a constant state of being cleaned. It is impossible to finish a job with a seven-month-old baby on the loose.
What have I missed off this list?
This is a collaborative post.
