When Abby "washes her hands"

This evening while Abbigail and I were both sitting in the living room, she said she had to go pee pee, so I told her to go ahead and go. She's a big girl now and doesn't need so much help from mom and dad anymore. She headed into the bathroom, took care of business, then began to wash her hands. When I hear the water go on in the sink is when I start the timer in my head.

As usual, the water had been running much longer than it needed to for her to wash her little hands, so I told her to dry her hands and get back out to the living room. No response. I try again in different words. No response, so I went in to see what was going on. Usually she's just playing in the water with the little bar of soap. This time? She had used that little bar of soap to lather up a good mess of bubbles on the top of her head. She was wearing nothing but her shirt, which was all wet at this point. I pulled her shirt over her head after my familiar "What are you doing?!" I always want to act calmly, but there are times when I just want to scream.

Abbigail does not like the shower, so I decided I'd clean her up by finishing what she started. I held her tilted upside down (kinda) so her she was face up with her head over the sink and poured cups of warm water over her hair until the soap was washed out. She screamed and cried the whole time, but a calm, loving voice I just told her as I looked into her eyes (since they were just inches from mine) that she thought it was a good idea. She clung to me so tightly, even pinching me at one point (unintentionally, of course). I stood her up, dried her off, put her panties back on and sent her into the living room.

It wasn't the worst thing she's done, and it wasn't really "bad" per-se, it's just one of those things that make you pause everything to tend to your child. We've had more and more of those instances lately. It can be frustrating at times, but in the end, I am so happy I have those moments. They make life so interesting. Children make life so interesting. I am so grateful for these silly little moments.