The Curse of the Bathtub Monster

This blog was originally posted on March 29, 2009 at http://www.parentclick.com/BlogPost.html?id=1030:

I had a sneaking suspicion that Jenna's sudden case of bathtub hysteria wouldn't be an isolated incident.

It was only a couple of weeks ago that I made the mistake of bathing Riley (at 4 my oldest boy) and Jenna (20 months old the middle of April, the middle child, my only daughter) together, without Crystal's help (she was tending to Mason, our nee-three-month-old little hellraiser).

It wasn't the choice to bathe them together that was off so much as the decision to get Riley out first, leaving Jenna alone in a draining tub, full of changing situations and scary gurgling noises.

We didn't leave her alone in the bathroom, mind you; I was toweling Riley off just a couple of feet away as the water level, which wasn't much more than ankle-deep to begin with), continued to dip. Jenna was standing, anxiously bouncing, as the drain spoke its garbling curses at her, increasingly louder as the water swirled down. Jen started whining, and I could feel her anxiety grow as I grabbed her towel.

When I reached her, her whine had become a full-on shriek, and the bathtub was doing its best to silence her, the last remnants of the bathwater noisily siphoning into oblivion. It was almost akin to the sounds of a garbage disposal, and in Jenna's mind arms were protruding from the hole, gaping at her, intent on pulling her down and making her its latest meal.

Shaking and trembling when I lifted her, she wailed into my shoulder, and I had no inkling that something as simple as draining water would have such an effect on her. I held her as I dried her off, shushing her gently and rocking her. "It's okay, sweetie," I said.

But that apparently wasn't enough. The little girl who had loved baths, whose eager evening "Bafie?" as she ambled into the bathroom always foretold what would become an almost-frantic effort to get into the tub (whether or not she was fully undressed), now not only wasn't excited about bathing, but was terrified of the idea of even approaching the tub.

We've tried several things: sitting her in the empty tub (with the drain plug in), holding her first, comforting, hugging her while in the tub. Crystal has even gotten in the tub with her. It's common practice for us to bathe Riley and Jenna together (with Riley sitting nearer the drain), but nothing can assuage the primal terror that accompanies a bath. Toys have no effect. Haven't tried bubbles yet, but I'm assuming the mysteries of what lurks beneath the pale frothy surface will enhance her fright rather than soothe it.

I know the bathtub monster almost always gets its kid in some shape. Riley wasn't afraid of the drain, but has long been skittish about putting his head in the water. I remember the fear of the monster in the drain.

But for Jen, it's full-on Freddy Krueger time. I'm half expecting her to ask me what the bathtime equivalent of no-doze is.