Bath 101 | 2006

At first, we thought Jakjak would be like other kids who are afraid to take baths. It turns out, it was the other way around. It was me who was afraid to give him a bath. When he was still as tiny as hamster (OK, maybe a guinea pig), it was fine as we just sponge him while he was in a baby tub. As he grew bigger, the tub grew smaller and he just won't fit properly anymore. So we had to get him one of those sitting chairs for baths. And he liked it.

So what was so scary about that? For one thing, it takes a bit of effort to get him sat down and locked tight. And of course, he becomes as slippery as a greased pig when he's bathing. Then there's the part that he wriggles out of your hands trying to get one thing or another (he had a whole family of rubber duckies when he bathes). He actually slipped out of my hands at one time and almost fell in the sink. Thank goodness he has a guardian angel keeping him safe all the time.

My wife, being my wife, had a complete set of bath stuff. Baby shampoo, baby liquid soap, baby toothpaste, baby scrub, baby lotion, baby oil and everything else that comes in between. If it was me, soap and water would have done just about the same thing. In fact, a garden hose would probably have done the same job, but then again, smelling like a leaf might not be such a good thing for a baby.

And as time passed by, we found out that Jakjak actually loved having baths. Then again, it could have been his excuse to make a lot of mess without it being his fault.