My husband tried to give her a bath while I went and picked H up from Kindergarten. When we walked in the door we heard screaming and crying--and NOT the fake kind. I go into the bathroom to help out and she is half wet and clinging to her daddy for dear life. I tell H to hurry and get in so that she won't be afraid. H gets in and all that happens with O is this:
She starts screaming that spiders and poop are going to get her. WHAT!? We ask her where they are and she points to the drain. She has NEVER pooped in the tub--none of them have. I don't understand it. The only thing I can think of is she has had a bad dream the last 2 nights and maybe one of them was about the bathtub with spiders and poop in it. It took both of us to pry her into the tub. She had the "death grip" on her dad's hoodie. I got her hair wet (thank goodness we bought the new shower head that has a detachable sprayer) and washed and my husband hurried and washed her body. We got her rinsed off and she literally jumped out of the tub.
She screamed her guts out the entire time, which in turn broke my heart. My husband ended up soaking wet but I guess we should be thankful that we got it done. Now what am I going to do when I have to do this alone this weekend? I might end up having to call the fire department for some help (I say that because people REALLY call 911 for stupid things like that)!!
*Remember how I am entered into a contest for the "Best Mess"? I tend to forget things but if you would kindly go and make a comment on my friends blog--on her recent post--I can get 2 votes for each person that comments before Friday. Her blog is Four Girls And A Burly Man--check it out, comment and mention that I sent you. She is REALLY funny!!
40 comments:
How funny!
-sandy toes
My 3 year old goes through phases, where he alternately love and then hates the tub. There is no rhyme or reason. I'm sorry for the freakout session...maybe give her a glow stick to use in the tub, and then turn off the light and turn on the hall light. That gets my kids excited to play in the tub, because the glowstick glows in the water.
I would be scared of that tub too. That's the kind of tub that is in all the horror movies, where everyone dies. Just sayin'.
Poor girl! I bet she has had bad dream about spiders and tubs or she has seen something on T.V. Some wierd cartoon maybe?
Wonder if you'll have to take a shower with her. I love-love-love the detachable shower heads!
The glow stick idea is great. I am going to do that for my kids just because!
Well darn it! I just typed a whole comment and it disappeared! Weird. I'll bet the spiders and the poop had something to do with it....
I did say that your little one sounds like my little puppy. He HATES to have a bath and always sits as far away from the drain as possible. I have always wondered why and now I know! It's the spiders and the poop! Your little one MUST speak 'Doggy' =)
Poor baby...bless her little heart. I love the glow stick idea. I am so going to do that. Thanks Erin! Heck! I might even do that for myself. ;-)
Kristina has a point, they do die in tubs just like that one!
Oh bless her heart! So sad/cute when they get scared of ordinary stuff. Can she take a shower instead for a while?
What a traumatic experience for BOTH of you!:( Hope she get over it for next time.
Kids are funny like that! I personally am afraid of water. Not so much water in a bath-tub, but large bodies of water. Ponds, lakes, rivers, oceans..yeah not so much!
P.S. Thanks for the shout-out on your sidebar. You have NO idea how much I appreciate it!
So sorry she's so phobic about it! Yikes! That does make that whole personal grooming thing a little difficult!
Blessings!
Poor girl. Poor YOU. I feel your pain. Jakers went through this after he had a scare in a pool last summer. (went under and couldn't get his head back out of the water.) After that he wouldn't go near any body of water no matter how small. It took about 4 months for him to get back in the tub. He would scream and cry and shake. It was sad. I had to stick him in the empty tub and just turn on the tap and poor water over him. He didn't really like that either, but at least he wasn't terrified.
Good luck with that. I hope she gets over it quickly.
i had a fear of finding a snake in the toilet when i was a child.
not sure how that started....
Bathtubs really are scary, I know exactly how she feels.
Ohhhhh that is so sad, poor little thing. Hopefully she will forget about it by this weekend when you have to do it yourself. I will cross my fingers for you!
I think bathrooms are just a scary place all together. First, you are wet...slipping/injury/hazard!!! Second, the shower curtain...someone could sneak up on you at any moment. Third, most bathrooms only have one way out...you are trapped and at the mercy of the crazy murderer.
I share her fear of spiders...can't even look at a picture without getting goose bumps and the shivers...like I am right now!
The poo...hmmmmmmmm...yea, I wouldn't want to be in the tub with that either. Maybe she saw it on a cartoon, but probably a crazy dream.
Oh no! That makes bath time hard. Can you place something over the drain? Like an upside down bowl or saucer? How about a shower? If the drain is still an issue then she could wear flip flops or something and maybe that would help.
I do know what you're going through a bit. When the Butterfly first came home she'd never been in a bath tub. She was almost 2.5 so the first time I put her in I think she thought I was trying to kill her! The second her feet hit the water she totally flipped out!
Let me think about this. If the cause of this fear was a dream, I'm really good at interpreting them. Oh wait. No I'm not. I still don't know why I had a dream that I was taking Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant to the airport in a red Chevrolet Avalanche. We just drove around for a long time and never did get there. So, I'm sure they missed their flight.
Poor poor Olampa. I'm scared of spiders and poop, too!!! I hope she has good dreams about flowers growing out of the drain... that might help? I'm sorry you had such a terrifying experience! I'm sorry she did too..
My mom used to bribe me to get over my fears.
I remember that I used to be afraid of the dark, so I'd sneak into my mom's bed.
She told me that for every week I stayed in my own bed, she'd get my a spice girls doll.
Totally worked.
The POOR thing!! Ya need to find some way for her to love it again! Bath crayons or something to STOP that fear....awwww!!
Hopefully she'll be over her tub phobia by the time you have to bathe her by yourself. Good luck!
I agree with you thinking she must have had a nightmare. My kids do strange things after bad dreams. I don't think the have had the poop and spiders dream, however they might have had that as a reality ;) I think I would die if either of those things were in my bathtub. Poor baby and poor parents! Tough times, tough times.
Erin-
GREAT idea!! I am going to go and buy glow sticks today!!
Kristina-
Oh, I never thought of that!! I just picked the first bathtub I saw on Google Image--I figured you all wouldn't have wanted to look at the one of a lady trying to have a baby in her tiny tub--WHAT?!
Annette-
We put H in there with her to try and comfort her. They were both taking a shower and H was by the drain--still didn't work!
Mindy-
WELCOME!! Thanks for stopping by!! I have written long comments and then somehow they have gotten lost in cyber world! )0:
Danielle-
ANYTIME!! I was happy to help!!
Michelle-
How sad for your little Jakers!!
Rychelle-
YIKES!!
*Mary*-
Maybe I should send her to your house and you can be scared together!!
Kristen-
Thanks!
Mary-
I am stumped about the poo....crazy!!
Holly-
Flip flops--great idea. I am going to try that!!
Christa-
Hahahaha!! Nice dream!!
Whitney-
That would be SO nice!!
Lee-
Bribery--there's a thought!!
Wendyburd-
Bath crayons--I am going to pick some of those up today too!!
Shanna-
Thank you--I need all the luck I cna get!!
Strawberry-
Tough times for sure!! Matter of fact both girls woke up in the middle of the night. H had a bad dream and O fell out of her bed--she's a WILD sleeper!!
Oh no. Poor little girl. How do you handle something like that? I mean, is she going to just forget by the next day? Or do you have to try to talk her out of her fear? Or do you just shower for awhile and hope she forgets? What do you do?? I feel so bad for her!
Kids get really funny (not to them!) fears sometimes, don't they? My daughter was afraid of putting toilet paper in the toilet for like a year. It was really gross, cause she'd put it all in the trash instead. Now she just refuses to flush. I can't decide which is worse.
Good luck getting her clean!
It is so crazy what kids can come up with!
my 2nd used to literally climb the walls for bathtime. I feel your pain.
Heather-
I know!! I actually asked her i she wanted to go in and take a bath this morning and she freaked out. )0:
Lara-
My oldest daughter is afraid of the toilet flush. She tries to flush and cover her ears at the same time.
Lorie-
It is crazy huh?!
Lisa-
How long did it last? I hope not TOO long!!
I really believed that a shark would swim up and eat me for sure.
How sad. I hope she recovers soon.
Your 911 comment reminds me of a news item in Provo almost 15 years ago. This old guy got fined for calling 911 for things like runny noses and hangnails and silly things like that several times a week for months. Well, he wanted to complain about the fine. So what did he do? He called 911.
Poor O. Tell her Bobie loves her, and that I'll come stomp on those damn things for her and KILL them!!
Tag! You're it! Check out my blog for the details. Maybe we'll find out you are the real "Pop Star" and you're just blaming the kids!
well....poo and spiders are scary!
Have you figured this out yet?
I am guessing you don't have a seperate shower. Poor kid. Maybe let her play in the tub without water in it for a couple of nights.
Hey! I'm heading on over to vote for your mess right now!
I have a little "award" of sorts for you on my blog. Pop on over if you want to join in on the fun =)
Poop and spiders are legitimate bathtub fears. I've had both in my tub from time to time, but only when my kids were little :0)
Our bathtime drama this week was my 13 year old daughter stepping on a razor in the shower and slicing half her toe off. If it's not one thing, it's another, right?
Post a Comment