Thursday, January 8, 2009

Bath Phobia Updated

Remember back in November when I posted about Sissy and her mounting fears. The most frustrating was the bathtub...

We tried all of the suggestions and then some other things we just thought up. Finally, we remembered a bucket of foam bathtub blocks that we had acquired at some point when Buddy was a tot. They're really neat - when they're wet, they stick to bathtub surfaces and come in assorted shapes - like circles, squares, rectangles, arches... And, they also float so a variety of things can be made from them.

A few of the blocks had teeth marks in them and the bucket was in bad shape. We had stored it in our "workshop" room of the house. The workshop room is where the Evil Twin used to smoke (I'll have more on that later). So, the bucket is dingy and gross.

We brought those foam blocks up anyway and really hyped them to Sissy. She was still timid, but didn't scream as much as normal and she did play with the blocks.

Then, we found two little plastic frogs. I don't even know where they came from, but she loved them. So, we named them Hopper and Bopper and she can't wait to get back to the tub to play with the blocks and frogs.

I decided to look for a new set of blocks to replace the half bitten ones that are a decade old, but I looked at the Evil Empire (the mart of Wal), and could only find a pack of foam letters and numbers. We're having fun with those now...I'll keep looking around for blocks.

Of course, the Evil Twin uses the letters to make dirty words or phrases. Last night, it was "Foxy Ass".

I guess it's a good thing Sissy can't read yet. LOL.

28 comments:

  1. LOL... Really who could resist spelling dirty words? Not I.

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  2. That is all too cute. I haven't seen those kind of blocks in eons...hope you get lucky and find them again. Glad you are feeling better also - thanks for the nice wishes.

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  3. LOL! That is really good taht she can't read yet!

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  4. Glad you have found something to ease the fear of the tub. Who knows - Sissy will probably grow up to be the girl who loves her bathtub and takes long, relaxing baths!

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  5. My daughter loved the bath toys your talking about and wanted you to know that I found them out Corridor G at Toys R Us. Good luck and glad you found something for Sissy.

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  6. my favorite bathtub toy was a seseme street submarine with bert and earnie weebles.

    i also used to waterbord my gi joes.....

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  7. Ron - it is almost impossible to resist! :-)

    themom - Thanks - I'm just glad you're home now.

    Sabrae - I guess we will have to clean up our acts in a couple of years. LOL.

    Momma - I know! Sometimes she cries because she doesn't want to *get out* now.

    LeAnn - thanks for the info. That's exactly where I planned on looking next! :-)

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  8. Yay for helping Sissy overcome her fears! Well done.

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  9. I used to think my kids couldn't read or figure things out...but it bit me in the a$$ so watch out! You'll be paying for therapy!

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  10. Yea for bath toys! DramaQueen developed a bath fear at about 1 year old. It took years off my life. Dirty words spelled with foam letters would have helped!

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  11. My grandkids used to like the bath markers or crayons that they could write on the tub and tile with.

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  12. Whose ass? I mean, be specific here! lol

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  13. I'm glad you were able to get her over the bath fears. The toys and blocks are a clever idea. I can't help but think of Ernie singing about his rubber duckie on Sesame Street.

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  14. Let's be honest.....who's having more fun with the letters.....

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  15. Glad Sissy is finally enjoying the tub...we have quite the assortment of bath toys here too - whatever it takes, I say! Foxy Ass...nice! ;) LOL...

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  16. fattie20xl - Poor Joe... I loved weebles when I was younger too.

    Tiff - thanks - we're just happy to not have the screaming fits any more.

    Warren - I know... Buddy was our early reader.

    Susan - I know you know the frustration, then. Now, we're both members of the club. :-)

    kenju - yep, I need to get some more of those crayons.

    honeywine - Hmmmmmm.

    Hacksaw - and she has tons of duckies... those were not a strong enough draw. At least back then. They're back in her good graces.

    JA - Oh, I think there's enough fun to go around. :-)

    TGG - yes! Whatever works!

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  17. Baylee hated the bathtub when she was little. Up until she could sit up in the regular bathtub. Blair is the total opposite. She LOVES her bath and kicks the whole time she's in her little tub!

    Baylee wasn't ever scared of the drain but she HATES when something is floating in the tub.. like a piece of hair or a little fuzzy. So, I have to make sure there isn't anything in there. She's gotten much better about it in the past year, but every now and then she will see something and make me get it out!

    I wonder if bubbles will help her not "see" the drain. We did that too. Also, don't let the tub out until she's out and dried off.

    Hugs - Tiff

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  18. I have no comments on small child not wanting to take a bath as I have cats...I'm pretty sure they wouldn't fall for blocks or bath crayons. ;-)

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  19. I have actually been meaning to mention something like this on my page but haven't been able to really build anything around it, so thanks for the perfect opportunity.

    The Peanut has exactly the same set of numbers and letters in the tub. My wife gave her about half of the package to play with.

    When the bath is done we have her put the letters back on the wall.

    Then Mona and I started playing this wierd game of scrabble on the shower wall. When we shower we rearrange the letters to make new words each time and leave it for the other to read and rearrange.

    Never let it be said that we don't know how to party.

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  20. I like the way the Evil Twin thinks!
    ...Al...

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  21. Evil Twin is my kind of person..what else are you supose to do while sitting there with them! Except we do it with the refriderator magnets! Had to stop because Bear knows how to read now...
    The bathtub has always been a bad experience with my kids as well...more so for me...my oldest ALWAYS pooped in there WHILE taking a bath, so disgusting!

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  22. Hee, hee...
    The Evil Twin makes me laugh...how could you ever have a bad day?

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  23. Spencer has those sticky foam things and he loves them too. so the drain monster has left the building?

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  24. Tiff - that is too funny about the floating things. If Sissy finds a hair (I shed!), she'll hold it up and say "String!" and I have to remove it.

    Kathleen - I don't even think cat nip would make a bath look more appealing to a cat!

    Jorge - I LOVE it! Too funny.

    Al - You two will be fast friends, I'm sure.

    Chandra - Neither of mine have pooped in the tub, but I think that warm water relaxes some of the little ones and the poopie just comes out!

    MsPulp - we laugh MOST of the time, but trust me, he's not Prince Charming ALL the time.

    rosemary - well, some (unknown) thing still sets her off sometimes, but for the most part, I think she's on the road to recovery. :-)

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  25. Jesus H Christ. Your comments are their own blog! I write about Poop and don't get half the traffic!

    I remember Haley having those same foam blocks as a kid. But Evil Twin making dirty words reminds me of the calendar with the magnetic words - like five hundred random words you can put together any which way.

    Scott thought it was funny to put together subtle dirty sentences. Only Haley, even at six years old, would always manage to find them, and somehow intimate that she knew they were innapropriate.

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  26. I bought a set of these at Menard's (where you save big money). They were half price after x-mas so I got them for five dollars.

    I HATE them, because the boy thinks they make the coolest of projectiles and empties the entire drum container over a two block radius. Then the dog chews them. Then I have to pick them up. They are now on the top shelf of the closet.

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  27. Hahaha! That's what those foam letters are for, right?

    Who can resist. Someone spelled "Dork butt" with them one time. Ah... the joys of early adolescence. Good thing Jon can't read, and Olivia doesn't use that bathroom.

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