In Hot Water

Well, it's been two days now without hot water.  Our 16-year-old water heater finally gave out and caused all sorts of damage in the process.  I'm a don't-fix-it-if-it's-not-broken kind of girl, married to an anticipate-and-prevent-any-possible-negative-contingency kind of boy.  He suggested replacing it about 9 months ago, and I said wait.  Who wants to spend $800 on something that brings no joy, after all?  {This sort of expenditure goes completely against my joyful spending philosophy, but that's for another day.}  Well, I'm eating my words now.  {At least as much as I ever will allow.}

So, for the past two days and nights, we've been discovering all the unexpected challenges caused when you don't have a water heater, water softener or water filtration system (if you've ever tasted Phoenix's water, you'll know that water filtration is almost as important as hot water.  Tap water in Arizona = yuck).  One of the most time consuming inconveniences, but the one that we've joked about the most, has been boiling water to bathe our three children {who all get extraordinarily dirty on a daily basis}.  My husband has actually been boiling water for his own bathing needs as well.  But I've chosen the polar express option (i.e., freezing shower at top speed).  Do you have any idea how long it takes to boil enough water to fill a bathtub with semi-warm water several times over?  A long time.

So, in this frame of mind, I thought I'd take the opportunity to introduce you to my 18-month-old's current favorite book.  Actually, "favorite" doesn't even begin to describe it.  He is obsessed and has all the key lines memorized, ready to chime in on cue.  The book is King Bidgood's in the Bathtub by Audrey Wood, illustrated by her husband Don Wood.  {I have to mention the illustrator, because the illustrations make the book.}

This is a story about a silly king who stays in tub all day despite cajoling by the Knight, Queen, Duke and ultimately his Court.  This is much to the dismay of his Page, who spends the day carrying heavy barrels of hot water to fill the King's tub, and cleaning up after the King stages a battle, eats lunch, fishes, and has a masquerade ball in the tub.  It's a wonderful book.  {Our love for this book is evidenced by the rip you can see in the lower-left-hand corner of this page, and on many other pages.}  If you have a young child (or even if you don't), you might enjoy this story too.  

As for our family, we're done with the King Bidgood routine for the time being.  No more lugging pot after pot of boiling water to the tub.  The repair guy just finished.  We have hot water again!