The Drain Dance

I’m pretty sure my mom and I are having an unspoken battle every night at bath time. Nobody says anything directly, but I’m fairly certain we are both soilders in a war that is happening during bath hime. Yes, it’s that serious.

You see, I’m confident that the bathtub will fill up if the lever for the drain is pushed down and the drain is open.

Mom seems to think the drain lever needs to be up and the drain needs to be closed in order for the tub to fill up.

I’m not sure she knows I know, but when I turn my back to throw a cup full of water over the side of the tub, or when I am banging on the soap dish with a spatuala, she quietly reaches over and pulls the drain lever up, closing the drain. I hear the sound of the drain close and immediately have to stop what I’m doing, go over to the lever, and open it up. When I turn around to get back to my task at hand (sometimes it’s bubble popping, other times its checking to make sure all of my body parts are still there)  it only takes a second for her to lift the lever back up. I mean, really!? I turn my back for one second and she’s into something.

There are some battles I’m willing to let her win, like changing my diaper. I get it, it has to be done. But this?  Being adamant about closing the bath tub drain so that the tub will fill up? I’m just not willing to let this one go.

So we do a silent dance throughout bath time, I open, she closes. I open, she closes. It seems as though neither one of us is willing to give in.

I have noticed that the final tine, after she has asked, “Ready to get out?”  And is holding my froggy towel with the hood (I love that towel) she then finally understands that the lever needs to be pushed down. She seems like a smart lady, I’m just not quite sure why it takes her the entire bath to realize the drain should be open.

It’s always an adventure with this one, really. I guess until she realizes the error of her ways, we will continue to do the ritualistic drain dance.  And I’m cool with that.

 -Dawson