Bucko-Gun

Tonight I made a breakthrough, I found the secret to a peaceful bath time - "bucko-gun", or as everyone in else in the world calls it, bubble gum. Yes, after the fourth time of hearing, "No!" when I suggested it was time for a bath I decided to pull out my ace-in-the-hole. Abby is relatively new to the whole bubble gum scene. The first few times I gave it to her she promptly swallowed it - which makes total sense because everything else I give her to put in her mouth she chews and swallows, why would this be any different? After a while though, we tried it again. She got that she wasn't supposed to swallow it, but she found it fascinating and wanted to keep taking it out of her mouth to look at it, and then she would forget the strict rule of handing it off to Mom when she was finished. (By the way, does anyone have a good way to get gum out of fabric - particularly a bed sheet?) This finally caused us to put a moratorium on the "bucko-gun" chewing.

She still loves to wear her towels and pretend
she has long hair. I'm pretty sure that is
programmed into a girl's DNA.

Since then she has been asking for it every few days, and we have stayed firm - no gum! But tonight, as I was thinking of a way to gently encourage her to get into the tub I thought of that miracle substance. I didn't care if she dropped it in the tub (as long as I could get it before she popped it back in her mouth), and she would be contained, when she was done with it I would be there for the handoff. I felt a little like I was luring a reticent wild animal into a trap, but she dutifully followed me up the stairs and once she was in that water she got the gum. Easy as pie.

The added bonus was that it kept her entertained while I washed her hair - or maybe it was just that it kept her mouth busy so she couldn't yell at me to stop. Whatever it was, it was really nice! She did keep telling me that she was hungry and wanted some bacon, and after about the fifth time of telling her we didn't have any, and that she had already had dinner, I began to wonder if they made bacon bubble gum. (yuck!)

She got out of the tub without a problem and even handed me the gum saying she was, "All done, bucko-gun!" Very nice, indeed. Hopefully this will remain a novelty for a while. Now, if I could only find the magical bedtime/sleep solution...

Life doesn't get much better than The Mighty B
and a popsicle. 

Abby made her school's yearbook.
Why does this not surprise me?