Matey – the bubbles and limited edition bathtime book experience

Think back to bathtimes of old.

Aside from hideous avocado bathroom suites, frilly shower curtains, and soggy carpets or dubious lino; there is probably one thing that all children’s bathtimes have in common at one point or other.

And that is the joy that can be found in the simpleness of bubbles.

We had a big blue bottle of Matey bubble bath that sat o
n a shelf, and smiled down upon us with a suggestion of the fun to come hinted at in his friendly eyes and jaunty blue hat. Seeing the bottle coming our way as the bath was running was supremely exciting, a special treat.

Something that I’d kind of forgotten, until an equally smiley, fun filled bottle of Matey was delivered to Bubby D by the postman along with a little bath book companion – and I got to experience again the childish wonder of impending bubble filled bathtime fun. (Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy a good bubble bath as an adult. I just don’t spend lots of time sculpting the bubbles into caves for ducks, or comedy beards. Perhaps I should…?)

From my memories, the bottle hasn’t changed much – except that Bubby D has a pink Molly Matey instead of my childhood blue version. But the bubbles are the same, the excitement is the same, and to top it off – something that I didn’t have when I was a child – she has the bath book to go with it too.

It was all I could do to get her to wait til evening to have a bath (and she carried Molly Matey and the book around with her all day protectively, showing it proudly to everyone on the school run to pick up the Wee Man, and even trying to feed Molly some of her dinner).

Then it was time.

The bath was run, the bubbles at mountainous proportions, and in she hopped.

Bathtime doesn’t always go so smoothly. Sometimes, there are howls of protest, attempted climbings-out seconds after the struggle of putting-in, and giant tidal waves of disgust sent flying over the edge of the bath and onto our long-suffering bathroom floor. It seems we are not alone in this, with research showing that a quarter of parents report their child has had a tantrum when in the bath, and 17% saying their child dislikes water and getting wet.

This is where the Matey waterproof bathtime book comes in. As if the bubble mountains weren’t enough of an enticement, the book – written by Emma Greaves, a mum-of-two from Surrey who won a book writing competition – can be read in the bath, and tells the story of the Matey characters Max, Molly and Peg Leg in a fun rhyming format.

Bubby D was thrilled she could take the book in the water, and we must have read the book seventeen times, pointing out all the different sea creatures and screaming ‘Yo HO’ every time she saw Peg Leg until finally all the bubbles had disappeared, and the bath water was starting to cool. (I’d also managed to get her sneakily cleaned without any protests, whilst she was distracted reading it, which was a big bonus for me!).

The book is only limited edition, so it’s worth getting your hands on one while you can if you’ve got a sometimes contrary toddler like me. It’s made bathtimes for the last week a lot less stressful and a lot more fun!

(And Matey is available perhaps FOREVER – well, it has been available for the last 50 years anyway – and it costs around £2.37 from places that sell bath stuff).