Children have a sixth sense. Somehow they know when Mommy is leaving Daddy alone to bath them and put them to bed, and they mutiny. After one such night, I think I've learned why:
Our toddler daughter went from angelic to screaming in about a nanosecond when I put her in the bath. At first I thought the water was too hot, so I took her out and asked her, "Hot?" The water felt perfect, but I put cold water in to humor her and cupped it in my hand for her to feel. But, she screamed again when I put her back in, and she was trying to climb back out. I was about to lose my patience with her, but then she held up her knee and foot. It finally dawned on me that she had scratches on her knee and foot from playing outside and was scared to get them wet. After I kissed her knee and foot, she went happily into the bath.
I wish I could say that I learned my lesson the first time, but that would be lying. Our son was next in line for bath, but he refused to take his clothes off. I began the infamous book countdown, but he just cried and cried. Luckily my wife hadn't walked out the door yet, so she came up and explained to me that he too had a scratch on his knee and was afraid to get it wet. I decided to swallow my pride, apologize for losing my patience, and let him have his books back.
Nights alone with three kids are truly a test of patience. Hopefully my kids will be patient with me as I learn to be patient and listen a little better.
No comments:
Post a Comment