What Happened to the Toddler-Eating Battery Acid?
I know kids change their minds about things with every breath they take. I know they outgrow fears, develop new ones, and can do it faster than I can scream LET'S GO PENS! But WTH? I could swear the Toddler despised, loathed, and generally feared all bodies of water larger than a sink last year (except the bath tub--nobody said phobias were logical). Oh, wait, I can actually prove she thought pools were filled with flesh-eating battery acid:
That would be the same HELP ME! I'M DYING! face that the Toddler wore when daycare brought out the sprinklers. She was having nothing to do with water play. So when she thought her water table (which I was preparing to "accidentally" dispose of) was a grand! new! toy! this weekend, I was suspicious. When she crawled in it and giggled with glee, I was hesitant. When she got all sorts of upset because her little water party was rained out, I thought long and hard. Finally, I figured I would see where this newfound love of "simming" was going to take us.
I went to the store and bought the cheapest inflatable pool of all time. $3.00, baby.
She loved it.
So now I'm trying to figure out if I should bother to buy the Toddler a swimsuit and/or a better pool. I'm thinking it might be nice to have a pool that will fit more than one of my butt cheeks. You know, just in case hell freezes over and I decide to swim with the Toddler.
I should probably wait until I'm bored to death of dragging the mini pool in and out of our garage before I buy anything. Especially since the Toddler will take a few breaths between now and then, meaning she'll probably be back to hating water.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Reader Comments (37)
Looks like her love affair with water is here to stay. I say stick with the wading pool while she gets comfortable with it. Maybe later in the summer try lessons. Don't go too deep too quickly.
It has been my experience that once they discover their love for water they never go back. Kids and water are like kids and bubbles. Unconditional love.
Keep an eye on your dog water bowls.
I agree with tootsie farklepants - you've probably got a toddler who is half fish now! :-)
Amy loves water, so much so that she spent yesterday playing in the dogs bowl and jumping in mud puddles.
It was cold. Very cold.
Yay for Alexis dicovering water. If you get a bigger pool, I will be very jealous.
Anything Frick can sit in that is filled with water is great. But put him in a real pool attempting to float (with swimmies on)....'nother story. I grew up on swim teams and coached one for 5 years! This is killing me!! It's a good thing Frack is a water baby!
she is a toddler and a girl- double doom on the changing their mind. (though swimming/water usually sticks so go for that nice pool!)
Dude - that first picture is hilarious. It's the polar opposite of Sumo's first response with regard to water.
As for loving it? I bet she'll love it from this point forward - what kid doesn't like water? But I say keep the $3 pool - hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?
That being said, did you know that Costco sells this thing for like $1000 that's an inflatible pool for like 40 adults? If you have a Costco membership, you should look at it - it's the weirdest thing I've ever seen.
Keep the pool. Forever. Because even if you upgrade and the upgrade fails you'll have this for a backup. Our experience is that you can't have too many pools.
Once they get the water bug - ha - they never go back.
At least in my experience. Because we went through that "water is the devil" phase, too, and now they're fish. :-)
Have fun!
Here's the thing about a bigger pool -- you're going to have to lug it in and out too. But, it might be worth it on those really hot days when you want to cool off more than just one butt cheek. ;)
Morgan wasn't a fan of the water her first summer. Last year, she wasn't too sure of it, but I filled her sand/water table with it and the girl tried to climb INTO it. After that, she'd see the pool here or at Jimmy's parents' house and freak the hell out if she couldn't go in it. So, I'm thinking the Toddler's love affair with water has just begun :)
You can get a dirt cheap pool at Target :)
I love that last pic--she looks like she is 'queen of the pool'
Looks like your little water hater has turned into a little dolphin...get the big pool...trust me! ;)
Sounds like us again. Bean freaked over baths, pools anything last year. Now...he loves it.
Kid needs to make up his mind.
I for one am glad. I love to swim.
I say get a better pool.
Yeah! That makes summer much more fun!
Aidan loves the water. He would jump in the pond with the fishes if I didn't hold him back.
Those damn Penguins.
Even if she goes back to hating water, a little pool can be a nice thing to soak in (for the grown-ups in the house!) once in a while on a really hot day! My mom had one in the backyard last summer, supposedly for when the kids came over, but she used it just about every day all by herself!
Princesses (Ha) are allowed to change their minds, mother. Get with the program.
I am with the majority, your toddler will probably continue to like the water. I don't know many toddler/kids who don't. Babies, maybe, but as they get older, their love for the water just increases.
However, I am not sure about a bigger pool. Bigger pool means harder to lug around, more water needed, AND, the biggest issue - more water means colder water. Unless you have a way of filling it with warm water, it will take a while to warm up enough. And little ones are typically very hip about getting in an icy pool. A tiny pool may be just perfect for her this year and will get warm much faster.
You can probably wait until she is older, and less adverse to icy water, before trying a bigger pool.
I thought of you yesterday as I was waited patiently for my order of ten $.99 fish tacos last night. The hockey game was on and your team was kickin' butt!
I say stick with the little pool for now while she still fits comfortably in it. A bigger one is a pain in the butt to haul in and out!
Once they've discovered the fun of the H20, it's on.
I adore both those pictures though. Too cute.
My kids are both waterbabies and it gets a bit scary at times.
Stick with the one you have unless you have the space for a bigger seasonally permanent one, like to clean gunk and/or don't mind dead grass ;-)
you DO know it's a woman's perogative to change her mind, right?
welcome to the estrogen world...
Go with the pool. If it doesn't work out, it would make a great fish tank.
I'm having serious thoughts of buying the $3 pool and I don't even have a toddler. More room for me!!
OK. Totally getting one. Was thinking about it and now I have to. Have to keep up with the Alexises you know.
What? I don't know...been a long day.
But I want a toddler pool!
unless something extremely traumatic happens, she will love LOVE L-O-V-E! the baby pools. See here: http://www.justinrummel.com/coppermine/displayimage/album=140/pos=7.html Gavin has loved little pools ever since about 12 months old...but only liked big community pools in the last year. So don't be surprised if she freaks about a big pool that she can't control or stand in or has a lot of other people in.
And you HAVE to get her a bathing suit...a big ugly DORA suit!!! or maybe just a cute standard ruffled suit...all I get are crappy swim trunks so long that they're practically pants on Gavin or a Speedo on Cooper. *sigh* I mean, how cute is http://www.target.com/Toddler-Girls-Circo-2-pc-Swimsuit/dp/B0013K7DN8/sr=1-2/qid=1212093764/ref=sr_1_2/601-6695227-0668145?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Atoddler%20swimwear&page=1" REL="nofollow">this? And only $7????
(that earlier link would be http://www.justinrummel.com/coppermine/displayimage/album=140/pos=7.html" REL="nofollow">here since Blogger is a poopie-head)
Even Isaac can't resist a good baby pool party. My kids are devestated that it's still too cold here for pool frolicking.
For some added fun, throw in some bubbles and call it a bath. We do the swimming suit bath WAY more often than I should admit around here in the summer.
You just never know with toddlers! Should make for a fun and interesting summer.
So sweet!
I'd say test the $25 version before digging a hole in the backyard though. You never know ;)
One day when you are bored.... and it isnt warm enough for water. Fill up your baby pool with bags of cheap flour.
I swear. She will have a blast and you can hose off the extra flour off of your drive, away into the grass.
All organic fun.
kids. whatevs. one never knows.
How fun! Water is a whole new world. My youngest just finished her swim lessons and is convinced she doesn't need any "help" in the pool now. Luckily Daddy is always close by because I don't like to get my hair wet.
"A pool that will fit more than one of my butt cheeks" - funny stuff!
Dylan hated getting baths for sooooo long, until last summer we took him to a lake swimming, and since then he has loved the water, but it has to be warm enough to suit him. We went to Erie and he put his foot in and shot us a look like "You have got to be kidding".
I have been thinking about a pool that fits the cheeks and three kids. I am thinking it's a very good idea.
I got about halfway through your plethora of comments so I wouldn't repeat somethign someone else said 5 times but I couldn't do it anymore so here goes...big pools are harder to dump and clean nad you'll need to do both regularly. They get slimy like nobody's business. I even got a chemical kit but that was a pain too. On top of that, they kill the grass guaranteed. But, I'm so glad she's liking the water!