Baths are for babies

I'm up late because I forgot to make the stars for our "star system" which translates into, you be bad, sassy, or deaf to mama and you get a star taken away. You be good, kind, share and polite to others and you get a star. Jacob is getting quite wound up from all the hype of Christmas that I'm hoping this works to keep him grounded. We used it last year before Christmas and it worked well.

I told him tonight that Santa will still come and bring presents, but he may not get to play with them until he has all his stars on the wall. He cooperated while going to bed, so I've got my fingers crossed.

Tonight was bathnight for the babies. I don't really look forward to bathtime for one reason - poop. I never had to worry about Jacob "relaxing" too much in the tub. But these little munchkins are another story.
Starting at 10 months they all used to get baths together in the tub. They loved to splash in the water and crawl around. This continued for a few months until someone would poop in the tub and I'd have to try to grab all the kids quickly, dry them off, drain the tub, clean the tub, disinfect the tub and all the toys, keep the kids out of trouble in the bathroom while I did all this, and then start all over again. Seriously, this must have happened 5 times before I decided to give them baths one at a time and they are literally in and out in 2 minutes. No play time, no "relaxing" time. I feel bad because they all really love to splash and play in the water. And really John is the culprit... but in fairness to all the kids, I don't want to give two really long baths and John only a 2 minute bath. And what would I do with him anyway when I'm giving those long baths?
Funny story about John is that one day when all three babies were in the bathtub, I was rinsing Matthew and Brooke and John were in the front part of the tub. Brooke started screaming bloody murder like she had been stabbed in the eye. I turned to talk to her and comfort her and didn't see that John had pooped right away. Then I looked where she was pointing and grabbed all the kids out. But it reminded me of those old movies when the natives saw Godzilla or the monster he was fighting and were pointing and screaming. I guess we know she doesn't like messes.
(Backstory) A few weeks back when I got done with a shower, Jacob was yelling my name (Mom, not Jean) and I could hear crying. Well, it sounded more like whining and it didn't sound serious. So, I got dressed before I came running down the stairs. There was John hanging by his head and one arm from the back of the couch, pinned to the wall. He wasn't choking or anything, his head was the biggest piece of him and couldn't fit between the space. And what helped was his arm grasping the otherside of the couch too.
So, I just give short baths and I've learned to put diapers and onesies on, not just diapers. That's another story though.
Getting back to my original story about bathing is that I've also learned that its hard to keep three slippery babies where you want them. They try to stand, they try to get out of the tub, they try reach up and grab something and they could really hurt themselves. So, I play one-on-one defense with them. It works a little better.