At some point m’laddo is going to have to get a grip and relax. Not that he doesn’t relax generally of course but if you mention the word “bath”, there is often alarm and assertions of “not me dadda, not me, fifi want bath. Not me hair.”
You see, however sweaty and excitable he gets, m’laddo refuses to have his hair washed. Not because he likes to be pongy or anything but he absolutely 100% hates having water in his eyes.
I’ve tried 3 or 4 approaches to dealing with this:
- gentle persuasion- come on my little hero;
- stern and forceful- you will do this now!;
- reasoning with the little man- if you tip your head back it wont go in your eyes;
- evil cheating- wrap him up in a towel like a sausage roll and dunk him!
So far the only constant is the plaintive cry of “not me hair!!!”, followed by tears, demands for his bunny and a towel and once its all over a fierce all encompassing hug because even though I’ve made him go through something he hates for a reason he doesn’t understand, he really really loves me.
And you know what? I really really love him too.