Avoiding First Blood
A few months ago I bought some fish.
Not real fish, we have enough pets for Ryan to mess with.
These were some sort of plastic, sticky on one side, rough on the other, for putting on the bottom of the tub as little individual strategically placed decorative two-inch bath mats.
Bathtime has been funtime for Ryan and me for as long as I can remember. He has tons of little toys that float, squirt, and swim when Daddy winds them. Just say "bath bath bath" on the ground floor, and DirtyBoy scoots over to the stairs, climbs 'em with vigor, and bounds down to his bathroom, ready to get the water started. But he recently started standing in the tub, smacking the tile on the side, occasionally bumping his head on the soap dish, and pulling on the shower curtain and pointing at the fish. (It's a theme. )
Ryan also used to just sit there and enjoy being rinsed off by the shower hose as the water drained, giggling as the water gurgled down his face or the spray tickled his belly. But when he started standing and facing the wall during hose-down, he started to look like Rambo in lock-up, getting cleaned like a prisoner. And I certainly do not want to fall out of a helicopter after chasing Ryan down into a gully. If you follow.
The issue is that twice Ryan has lost his grip and slipped. I have been there to catch him, or at least lessen his slide as he splashes back in order to keep his head above water, but I've been increasingly worried that I would miss him one of these times. Hence the fish.
Which have been a bust. Half of them didn't adhere to the tub surface, and Ryan's peeled a couple others off himself. So yesterday I put down our old ugly rubber dog mat we use for bathing the dogs, and will try to teach him that standing is verbotten until he can prove his balance in federal court.
Not real fish, we have enough pets for Ryan to mess with.
These were some sort of plastic, sticky on one side, rough on the other, for putting on the bottom of the tub as little individual strategically placed decorative two-inch bath mats.
Bathtime has been funtime for Ryan and me for as long as I can remember. He has tons of little toys that float, squirt, and swim when Daddy winds them. Just say "bath bath bath" on the ground floor, and DirtyBoy scoots over to the stairs, climbs 'em with vigor, and bounds down to his bathroom, ready to get the water started. But he recently started standing in the tub, smacking the tile on the side, occasionally bumping his head on the soap dish, and pulling on the shower curtain and pointing at the fish. (It's a theme. )
Ryan also used to just sit there and enjoy being rinsed off by the shower hose as the water drained, giggling as the water gurgled down his face or the spray tickled his belly. But when he started standing and facing the wall during hose-down, he started to look like Rambo in lock-up, getting cleaned like a prisoner. And I certainly do not want to fall out of a helicopter after chasing Ryan down into a gully. If you follow.
The issue is that twice Ryan has lost his grip and slipped. I have been there to catch him, or at least lessen his slide as he splashes back in order to keep his head above water, but I've been increasingly worried that I would miss him one of these times. Hence the fish.
Which have been a bust. Half of them didn't adhere to the tub surface, and Ryan's peeled a couple others off himself. So yesterday I put down our old ugly rubber dog mat we use for bathing the dogs, and will try to teach him that standing is verbotten until he can prove his balance in federal court.
posted by Dan at 10:18 PM
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