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Sunday, March 11, 2007

Bathing Con-Artist

That's right, my 3.5 year old (OS) is a con artist. Sometime before his third birthday, I started making OS wash his own body in the bathtub. If he's particularly messy, I will of course help him. Likewise, I always wash his hair for him. However, back this summer with preschool coming up very quickly, I thought it was important for him to be able to exert some independence and control over his body. Sure he doesn't do as good of a job as you or I would do in the shower (at least I hope! Maybe I spoke too soon), but he is sitting in a tub of soapy water after all. As such, I sit there and name the body parts and OS washes them. Sometimes he'll pick a body part, name it, and wash it and I just confirm that the name is correct. It was a great way to teach him body part names like wrist and ankle that don't come up in conversation for often. Unlike the homes of those who banned the Higher Power of Lucky, "scrotum" and it's counterpart "penis" are words that are spoken on a daily basis in our home.

So how do I know that OS played a little game on my husband? The other night I washed OS's hair and had started the name the body parts and wash game. My husband came in to finish up and I said to him that OS had already washed his face and neck. My husband clarified because he thought I meant that I had washed his face and neck. He had a quizzical look on his face. No, OS washed his face and neck. My husband looked stunned. He wanted to know how long OS had been washing himself. I said since at least preschool started but I was pretty sure he started somewhere around 2.5. Let me clarify to you by saying that my husband usually gives OS a bath. He had no idea that OS was capable of washing himself. OS was found out! Now my husband is playing the name the body parts and wash game.

A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: What a child does independently for one parent, he may mysteriously not know how to do for the other.

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posted by Alex Elliot @ 10:03 PM   2 comments
2 Comments:

  • At 3/13/2007 11:24 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    That's pretty funny! I have a vision of you and your husband having an uncomfortable conversation right before OS left for college. Glad you caught it now.
    -J

     

  • At 3/14/2007 8:23 AM, Blogger Nancy said…

    We have one of those, too ;)

    If I say no to something, my OS goes to his dad to ask the same question in hopes he will say "yes." It's not all the time, just for the important stuff - snacks, cake for dinner, etc.

     
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Name:Alex Elliot
Home:MA, United States
About Me:Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 6 year old and a 3 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe.
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For those of us who didn't get an instruction manual with our babies and for whom parenting hasn't always gone as planned. On a more serious note this blog is about supporting a woman's ability to make her own choices about parenting including the choice, for whatever reason, to bottle feed her babies formula.

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