Creative Parenting

Sometimes you've gotta think outside the box to be a parent.  I think the majority of conflicts people have with their children is when they don't do this.  Sometimes it's hard to ignore your programming that children should NOT stand on chairs or tables.  Or that children should NOT write on the wall with chalk...or a variety of other things. 

Lately I've been coping with the realization that children really don't have to bathe...at least not in the typical sense of the word anyway.

My daughter has suddenly developed an extreme aversion to taking a bath.  It's not just the tub, we tried bathing her in the kitchen in her old baby tub....she screamed bloody murder.  We tried a shower.  No dice.  We tried coaxing her into a kiddie pool outside.  Still no luck.  Through trial and error we have found out that it's not the WATER she is afraid of.  It's not the tub exactly either...she just doesn't want to stand or sit in water.  No idea why!  But...we've kinda learned to work around it.

Tonight I send my husband out to purchase an inflatable baby pool.  He got one that is very shallow...only holds a few inches of water...and we put it in the kitchen floor surrounded by towels.  We stripped Bear down and let he play in it without water and then started to add some.  As soon as she realized what we were doing she wanted out.  Ugh!  HOWEVER...she would set in my lap and let us wash her down pretty good with rags and soap.  I even managed to shampoo her hair.  Eventually I ended up in the tub myself....I'm sure that was "cute"...and she happily played with the water from just outside the pool.  before long she might as well have been in the pool with the amount of water that had soaked into the towel she was standing on!  Sure, it was messy in a way...but we basically poured water all over the kitchen to let her play as well as to get her clean.

Pretty much our only other option would be to force her into a bath...and what good would that do?  It would only make her more fearful and hurt her trust in us.  We aren't willing to do that to her, so for the time being, our weird little version of a water-play kitchen bath will have to do.

Despite a bit of water to clean up, it wasn't too much trouble.  She had fun.  She tried to wash her own hair and ours.  She laughed when we poured water on her belly or splashed her toes.  It was easier than giving her a regular bath in some ways....there was more room for both of us to be in there for one thing.

Ultimately I have no fear that we'll get her comfortable with the idea of getting into a bath again.  It might take some time, but she certainly won't be bathing in a kiddiepool in our kitchen floor by the time she starts college!  Ha!