If you can’t beat em….

I’m not gonna lie, this recent flare up of pain and fatigue isn’t happening at a good time. At least where Little Dude (aka Prince Darfff Tater as he is calling himself) is concerned. His birthday may have came and went but the terrible twos have turned into the throw-yourself-off-a-bridge-because-your-toddler-is-the-spawn-of-Satan threes.

He is at the stage of wanting complete independence when it comes to things he isn’t able to do himself and wanting help or to help when it’s at the most inconvenient time possible. He is also the most nit-picky person I have ever known. Our house has been taken captive by a 3 year old dictator!

There are certain times it’s harder than others. Trying to make him finish a meal when all he wants is cake? Forget it. Trying to put him to bed without his favorite stuffy friend (because he magically made it vanish)? Forget it. Try to get him into the tub for a bath? Definitely forget it!

Mr. Mango have been put at our wit’s end with this little tot when it comes to hygiene. He cries, he flails, he screams, he wails. We’ve bought extravagant bath toys, tried coloring the water, tried singing, tried showing him his siblings bathe and have fun. None of it works. While Mr. Mango can handle giving him a quick rinse down while he’s squirming, my body can’t safely handle him throwing a tantrum all wet and soapy, it’s just not safe.

With the Mr. working over time this week though, realistically it was up to me to figure out how to get our oh so stinky one washed up.

If you can’t beat em. JOIN EM!!!!

It was a norm for all 3 young-ens when they were babies. For Princess it was a necessity when she had a nasty cold her first winter, it was the only way she would feed (the wonderful heat and relaxation let her breath through her nose). It was a last ditch effort and it worked!

In the tub I got while he loaded the water with his toys. We played. We splashed. He let me wash his hair, he helped me wash his body. You’d have never been able to guess that for the last 6 months he acted like a tiny terror any time we mentioned bath  time. Not only does he now smell like a strawberry milkshake but I got a good soak in too. Talk about an extra perk!

I am hopeful that the experience was enough to make him a little more comfortable with the water, after all I won’t be wanting to join him EVERY bath and we live at the beach after all, being comfortable in and around water is a must. I guess we’ll wait and see, another cleaning will be a must in the near future!