My two year old adopted nephew must have had some bad experience while playing in the bubble bath because for two months straight he fought and resisted and cried whenever trying to convince him to get a bubble bath. His Grammy has been giving farmers baths with baby wipes this whole time.
Well today I (his favorite uncle) decided to try to convince him to once again get in the tub.
“Ooh stinky Ricky needs a bath, do you want to get one”
“No.”
"Awwh don’t you want to play with bubbles and draw on tub with crayons? What about TOYS? Do you want to play with uncle SmokeyDope while you take a baaath? Huuh?
His little mind takes a second to process the query
“mhm…”
“Oooh wooow! Alright let’s go play, let’s go PLAAY!”
incomprehensible shrieks of transcendent happiness “bye bye, bye bye, bye bye!”
He gets up and starts running to the stairs towards bathroom while gesturing me to follow. At this point Grammy and I are like “okay this is happening” so we got his little butt to finally willingly go for a bubble bath. I spent over half an hour playing with him like drawing on the tub, splashing him with water, making goofy noises that kind of thing.
This kind of thing is not really in my comfort zone I never gave him a bath before but im willing to try if it helps the situation. So today was a success but now were unsure whether he’s back on the regular grammy time bath routine or if playtime with uncle SmokeyDope is now a non-negotiable update in the terms and service agreements.
I don’t feel very good about myself most of the time so when I’m able to make change for the better in someone elses life or add even a little bit of positivity to a situation it makes me feel like im not wasting space. Today was a good day as uncle SmokeyDope :)
Rad! Enjoy the success high, but you’re going to want to keep chasing that dragon. Don’t be bummed if it fails to work a second time. They adapt, and sometimes they are having a bad day and even the coolest uncle will hit a wall.
Helpful things for bath:
Also, if you’re new to working with kids, timers that visually count down (not digital, ones that have a colored wheel of how much time is left) are helpful for starting / ending tasks. Also tricks like betting them they cant wash their own hair, or you can finish a bath before the end of the timer can work well. And on nice days with a rain shower, go soap up out side. do it with them. clean off from the hose, they love it.
you’re doing great! keep it up!