LOS ANGELES (AP) – On a recent sweltering Saturday afternoon, I submerged my guilt and filled the bathtub halfway for my 3-year-old twins to play in.
It was their first bath in months. The early childhood rituals of spiky-haired tub photos and endless play in lukewarm bath water are foreign concepts to our two girls, who were born in 2011 at the beginning of an epic drought in California that shows no sign of abating.
I told them this was a treat – an exception to the five-minute shower rule strictly enforced by my husband – and reveled in their delight as they pretended to be mermaids, floated and splashed each other with glee. Then, my husband got home and they ratted me out.
“Daddy! Daddy!” one shouted. “Mommy says it’s a special day and we can play mermaids, but really she’s just wasting water and killing fish!”
I was about to remind her no one likes a tattle tale, but then I stopped.