Monday, April 20, 2009

Children's Natural Attraction to Water


Why is it that kids seem to have a natural attraction to water? Is it because water truly is the life-giving force? That's it's vital to sustaining existence?

Belle has discovered the joys of running water over the past few days. She's kind of turned in her chocolate milk/apple juice preferences in lieu of water (honestly, I'm okay with that). Moderately more annoying are the puddles that greet you when you walk into any of the bathrooms in the house (since Belle shares a bathroom with her sister, you can probably only imagine how enthused Addie is about this latest fad).

Still, there are positives. Handwashing has been a struggle in the past--"Did you wash your hands after you went potty, Belle?" "Yes, Mommy." "Really?" "No, I'm sorry. I'll go do it now."--and this probably has (pardon the pun) melted away. Same thing with brushing her teeth, although she was always pretty much willing to do that. It's just that she now does it every hour or so instead of just when she wakes up in the morning and right before she goes to bed.

And, of course, there's some good stories. Most notably, Belle took her sippy cup into the bathroom yesterday and closed the door. I listened to the water running for five minutes or so, then I finally figured I should go and make sure there weren't any major disasters transpiring. She looked at me with this self-satisfied look on her face and said, "Well, I think the outside of the cup is pretty clean. Do you think you could take the cover off now so I can get to the inside?"

Maybe you had to be there, but it was incredibly funny : )

So rather than toys, games, books, television, or company, Belle wants water. When I got thinking about it, I realized that Addie went through a phase where she spent an awful lot of time on a stool in front of the bathroom sink.

I wonder what this means?

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