It's Mr. Bubble! Run for Your Lives!

That evil Mr. Bubble. He sneaks up on small children and makes bubbles (gasp) when the least expect it! Oh the injustice of it all!

Poor Molly. She was starting her bath last night. It was just like every other night. She had a smile on her face and a spring in her step. Bath time is her favorite time of the day. As soon as she got in the tub she stuck her head under the faucet, drenching her hair and face.

Then, out of the blue, I whip out a bottle of Mr. Bubble and squirt it under the running water. The result was a growing mound of wonderful, fluffy, fun-filled bubbles. Or at least I thought it would be fun-filled.




















Panic gripped Molly as the bubble mound expanded. The panic kept escalating until Molly was screaming and throwing her leg over the side of the tub to get out.

Molly loves bubbles. We play with them all of the time. Logic lead me to believe that loves bubbles outside = loves bubbles in the tub. I guess not!This is just one more example of a time where I did something with Molly expecting one reaction but getting something quite different.

Molly was traumatized. She was so scared I didn't even snap a bubble bath picture. I just threw down the camera and grabbed Molly. I emptied the tub. She screamed. I filled it with new water. Still screaming. I got my feet in. No good. I got in the water, still no good. Molly was just plain scared and was not going to go back into that tub!

I am a firm believer in the theory that getting back up on the horse is the best solution for overcoming fear when something scary happens. I really wanted Molly to feel okay about getting in the tub again so Tony and I worked with her for about a half hour until she finally got her feet in. Another 15 minutes and she was sitting in the water.

We managed to finish the bath, but Molly looked as if she had an escape plan worked out and ready to execute as soon as the situation warranted. For the first time since we had her, she was excited to be able to get out of the tub.

My fear was that Molly would still have tub-anxiety issues tonight. I hated the thought of that. She loves the water and bath time is so much. I didn't want to be responsible for taking that joy away from her. I breathed a sigh of relief when Molly eagerly hopped into the tub tonight. Crisis averted.

Mr. Bubble, by the way, is in the trash can. Not the bathroom trash can either. He is already out in the toter, covered in dirty diapers, waiting for the trash man to pick him up and take him to the dump. Bad Mr. Bubble!