How a Book Helped my Three Year Old Take a Bath

Hi There!

For those of you who don’t know, my little girl is an assertive and determined young preschooler.  If you parent a Taurus like I do, then you probably know what I’m talking about!  Every night after dinner, L anticipates what I’m going to say.  As soon as I open my mouth with, “Okay, it’s time for…” she starts pleading: “No, I don’t want to take a bath!  Can we skip bath tonight?!”  Yep, I’ve used some great ideas like bath paints to encourage her, but on this particular night, I motivated my three year old to take a bath by using a children’s book.

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We frequent the library and I often get discouraged when my favorite books are checked out.  You can imagine how thrilled I was when we found one of my favorite books: King Bidgood’s in the Bathtub by Audrey Wood.  The basic synopsis is that a King refuses to get out of the bath tub.  First, the Knight tries to get him out by announcing it’s time for battle, but the King just “battles” in the bath tub with toys.  Then, the Queen asks him to come out for lunch, but he decides to eat in the tub.  The Duke and the Court try their hand at it, too, but it is the page who realizes to just pull the plug!

When I was in the classroom, I loved reading it to the kids because of the repetition and the humor. There’s a distinct rhythm to the story so we would talk about emphasis (we repeated recurring lines together like: “oh, who knows what to do?”), about sequence because each attempt to get the King out happens at a different times of day (starting with morning and ending with night), and about prediction (Do you think King Bidgood will get out of the bath this time??).

I’ve talked with L about some of these concepts, but I decided to use this book as a motivator for bath time.  At this point in her little life, I had a round belly that was ready to pop.  The anticipation of having a little brother made things at hone a little more stressful.  So, my goal was to try and engage her through play – I just wanted to have fun with something that she was finding so stressful!  I grabbed her crown and asked if “Queen L” would like to go to the bath tub.  I also told her that I would read the book for her while she took a bath.  What a treat and, oh, so simple for me!  The trick was that we had read the book together before, so she knew exactly what I was referencing when I said, “Queen L’s in the Bathtub.”  I put the crown on her head and escorted her to the bathroom.  She even got to wear her crown in the bath – with the understanding that the crown stay on her head instead of floating in the bubbles!

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Once I had her in the bath she didn’t want to get out (much like a certain King in the book ;-)).  So, I read the story and invited her to be the one to “pull the plug” just like in the book.  She did it without flinching.  Then, we proceeded to put the “Queen” to bed by reading, Princess Baby, Night, Night by Karen Katz, which was another book that we had picked up at the library.

Easy night time routine!  It was not just about getting my daughter clean, but it was also about learning and playing along the way.  By incorporating a favorite book into the “have-to,” we made one night a little easier and a lot more fun!

Your Turn!

What does bath time look like in your house?

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