Sciencewomen

Trapped in the shower

Posted by SciWo on October 12, 2007
(7)
More »

This morning I slept in…to the ridiculously late hour of 7 am. Then Minnow woke up and our day got underway. As a result of my laziness and Fish’s work schedule, I had to get ready for my day while wrangling a wiggly Minnow. This is actually pretty typical, at least two days a week I fail to get up before she does.

But this morning I faced a new obstacle. I’ve baby proofed our bathroom and I let Minnow crawl around and play while I take a very quick shower. Usually, she spends a little bit of time banging on the shower door but spends most of her time looking for trouble.

This morning however, she stood up against the shower door and refused to move. Even when I had finished my shower.Our shower door opens outward and with Minnow unsteadily leaning against it, I was trapped. If I opened the door, I would knock her over onto the hard floor.

What followed was about 3 minutes of me trying to figure out how to convince Minnow to sit down or least move to a non-door part of the shower. I tried to mime sitting down; I tried dog commands “sit” and “down”; I made funny faces and hand gestures. She thought I was hilarious but didn’t budge. Fortunately, eventually she inched toward the hinged side of the door, and I was able to crack it open without knocking her over. Once the door was cracked, she wanted to play with it. So she sat down to better grab and swing it, and I was free!

(Then I just had to make sure she didn’t pinch her fingers while I was getting dressed.)

Anyways, this brings me to my Friday question:

Is it better to snare an extra hour or so of sleep and getting ready while child wrangling, including possiby getting trapped in the shower, or is it better to force myself out of bed at 5:30 or 6:00 and have an hour or so to shower, eat breakfast, and get ready for the day before Minnow wakes up?

(7)
More »

Comments

  1. #1 ecogeofemme
    October 12, 2007

    Some babies really like those wheely things with the toys attached that they can sit/stand in and move around, so they are safe (as long as not near stairs) but not in your arms. Given what you’ve said about your parenting philosophy, you might not like them. But, it might be a compromise, at least while you’re getting ready.

  2. #2 ScienceMama
    October 12, 2007

    He he! This is the best mommy story I’ve heard in awhile!

    I’m often trying to get ready with Bean awake. It’s tough! For now, if I have to shower while I’m alone with an awake Bean, I usually put her in this bouncy seat we inherited from a friend. It’s the only time I use such a seat because the rest of the time if I have to get something done when I’ve got Bean, I usually have her playing on the floor or I’m wearing her. But when I’m in the shower, she’s pretty content to sit in the chair as long as I play peek-a-boo with her.

    Though I usually try to get almost all the way ready before I wake Bean up, there are times when you just NEED that extra hour of sleep, wriggly baby or not. And you shouldn’t worry about taking it once in a while. Especially now while you still can. Once Minnow is a toddler, she’s not going to be as entertained watching you shower and so you won’t be able to hit snooze anymore…

  3. #3 hypatia103
    October 12, 2007

    If you guys aren’t reading each other, you should be:

    http://prettyharddammit.blogspot.com/2007/10/bath.html

  4. #4 Lab Lemming
    October 12, 2007

    If you can afford to go to bed early, getting up early isn’t that bad once you get used to it. I have to get up before sunrise for work while we are drilling, so I just take the morning baby minding shift when I’m home.

    The hardest part is rememnering that I still need to be in bed by 9:30 back here in civilization, where the electricity isn’t turned off at that time.

  5. #5 Amy
    October 12, 2007

    I go through the same thing every morning. My son is 1. I wait for him to wake me up (5:30 – 6:00). Then I nurse him and we get out of bed about 6:15 – 6:30. I then put toys on the bathroom floor and have the stairs gated and everything babyproofed. Usually he stays in the bathroom with me while I shower. Yes, I have gotten trapped in the shower too! It usually only lasts a few minutes.

    So far this routine works ok. It may get more difficult when he is walking though.

  6. #6 Stewgad
    October 15, 2007

    How I WISH I could get trapped in the shower, even if it made me late! These days I get roughly 2 minutes to shower before the Gadlet starts screaming. She’s entertained for such short periods of time on her own, that she gets frustrated pretty quickly, but she’s only 5 weeks old so I bet I’ll get trapped in the shower soon enough!

    Thanks for the funny story — I love the image of you miming sitting down in the shower.

  7. #7 AAYOR
    October 15, 2007

    Bug is big into closing doors these days. He’s been trapped in the laundry room a few times. Today, it was his bedroom. It takes a while to get in because I know that he’s just on the other side of the door, and opening it even a crack would knock him onto the hard tile. He thinks that it is HILARIOUS, of course.

    I’ve learned that showering in the morning is a pipe dream, so I shower just before bed and sleep an extra half an hour in the AM. It means that I’ve had to adopt a new hair strategy, but it works pretty well. Of course, sometimes you just really need a shower in the AM (esp if it helps to wake you up), and in that case I usually opt for the earlier alarm. For 2 reasons: (1) its really hard to get ready with a toddler who needs your constant attention, and (2) I like to get ready, and then spend the 35-60 mins (depending on when he wakes up) just focused on Bug. Its much more pleasant and less stressful for both of us.