she was tired, crabby, whiny....when I said it was time to take a bath she geared up for a melt down of epic proportions. I briefly toyed with just skipping the bath, but the syrup in her hair from breakfast and the sandy fingers, combined with the dirty face complete with runny nose and tear streaked cheeks certainly meant she would never pass the stick test ( you know that test where you touch your child and if you don't stick they can wait another day for a bath. it's a test mom of many kids will fully understand) so as the water started to fill the tub and she sat on the floor a miserable puddle of attitude I walked to the kitchen and grabbed a few glowsticks from the drawer. Once back to the bathroom she watched curiously as I activated the sticks and dropped them in the tub..."what is that" she asked? "tonight" i said "you are bathing by magic lights" "those are glow sticks" she pointed out "yes they are" i said "but when you put them in water they become magic" "really?" she asked a skeptical look replacing the tears..."guess you will have to see" i suggested. She crawled into the bath and poked a glowstick with her toe...she wasn't quite sure if she should believe me or if perhaps I had truly gone bonkers. "would you like the shower curtain closed or the light off" I asked. Light off she said and so there we sat in a bathroom lit by glowsticks . She was quiet as she washed her hair, it had been a tough day. busy, with little pause and to a 5 year old who is determined to experience and explore it was exhausting. as I helped her dry off and dress she glanced over at the tub with the glowing lights and giggled "can we do this again" she wondered "I like taking a bath in magic lights." She was asleep before her head hit the pillow perhaps dreaming about magical bathtimes or what she would conquer the next day. As I cleaned up the bathroom I breathed out a thank you for the idea that had come from nowhere, that had taken what would have been an epic battle and made it a quiet, peaceful way to end the day.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone
No comments:
Post a Comment