PLEASE Don't Drink the Bath Water!

The last two times I've given my 2 and 3 yr. olds a bubble bath, I've had to cut their bath funtime short because one or both of them could not stop sipping on the bath water. Although I'd tell them not to drink the water in the U.S. too, drinking bath water in the DR brings a whole new level of risk to their health and my sanity and our family's peace. The water is not treated in the DR and there are tons of parasites just waiting to find hosts like the little bodies of my dear Z. Mulenga and K. Amiri. On top of the usual risk just by virtue of being in the DR, our neighbor is in the midst of a cholera crisis that has affected a small portion of our population here. Bathtime was a great break time for me because they have so much fun playing and I can watch them from their bedroom while I read a book, but now it's turned into a not-so-fun time because I have to be the water policeman and hover to keep them from getting seriously ill by drinking it from the soap dish or acting like fish. We recently put bleach in the cistern to help mitigate the risk of cholera but it's still a gamble to drink the water.

Living in the developing world makes reaching my goal of not sweating the small stuff with the kids in order to keep the peace a little more challenging since there are serious potential consequences for stuff like sucking your thumb after playing at the neighborhood playground, stepping in standing water after it rains, and of course drinking the bath water.