What I Learned From Pee-Pee in the Tub

Last night was a challenging evening in the Ng house. I was a bit tired and Carey was working late, so it was just us ladies at home. I started cooking dinner as soon as I got home, while Abby enjoyed some fruit snacks and watched Fresh Beat Band on Nick Jr. Dinner was ready at 7:00, so we sat down to eat. And boy oh boy, did Abby take her time. She finally finished at 8:00. That's right folks - it took my child almost an hour to eat. (Talk about chewing each bite 50 times...)

At this point, it was time for a bath. Abby isn't hard to bathe, by any means - as a matter of fact, she loves taking a bath and often asks to take them, even when it's not bath night! I got her undressed, sat her in the tub, and gave her her favorite new bath toy - foam letters and numbers that stick to the sides of the tub when they're wet. Abby was having a great time, picking letters out of the tub and telling me what they were: E for elephant! M for Mommy! J for jungle! Suddenly, she pointed down at the water and, with a huge smile on her face, told me that she'd peed. In the tub. Um, gross.

Honestly, this is only the third or fourth time this has happened. Ever. Abby is normally really good at peeing before she gets into the bathtub. And yet, here I was, with a child sitting in a bunch of pee-pee water. Yuck.

As I mentioned before, I was pretty tired before this whole adventure even began, so I was less than understanding when the whole pee issue happened. I told Abby that Mommy was angry. I told her that she made a mess that Mommy had to clean up. I asked her where we go pee-pee, and when she told me that potty, I told her that she knew better than to go pee in the bathtub. As I pulled all of her toys, including her beloved letters, out of the tub, she began to cry. I snapped that she couldn't play with her toys anymore because they were covered with pee. I cleaned the bathtub, drew her another bath, cleaned her very thoroughly, dried her off, and put on a clean diaper and pajamas. This whole time, I said very little.

After her pajamas were on, I told her that we needed to go back into the bathroom so I could clean her ears and comb her hair. I carried her back into the bathroom, stood her on the counter, cleaned her ears and began to comb her hair. At this point, she looked into the mirror and said: "I so pretty. Fanks, mommy." (Abby can't quite make the "th" sound - thanks and thirsty tend to come out like fanks and firsty.) At this point, I melted. I was reminded that my little girl is just that - a little girl. She is young and makes mistakes and has accidents. Just like I am sure I did when I was little.

God took this beautiful moment, when my little girl thanked me for combing her hair, to remind me of the importance of patience and love when raising my child. I know that there will be more hard days to come - that's par for the course with a toddler. But I don't think that I will ever forget the look of contrition on my daughter's face last night, nor the hug that followed. I definitely said an extra prayer for Abigail last night. Fanks, God.