The Duckie Tub

Way back last year, before the Doots Man was born, Scott and I (like any other couple soon to be blessed with the birth of a child) were out shopping for some baby-type items. While at Target, we came across the Infamous Duckie Tub.



Have you seen the Duckie Tub? It seems like every single person I know who has had a child in the past few years has the Duckie Tub. In a circle of KC friends, it is like a Rite of Passage for New Moms when they finally move their babies to the Duckie Tub.



So we bought the damn Duckie Tub.


Anyhoo: fast forward to like, now. I had shoved the Duckie Tub package to the back of the bathroom cabinets, forgot about it a bit. Then, it got warm. And I remembered, oh yeah! The Duckie Tub! You know what, I bet it would make a nice beginners pool for this summer! So, I blew the thing up (no small feat, my friends). I found a soft blanket to use underneath so we didn't get any holes in it. I set it up in a shady-yet-warm part of the yard, filled it with water, tossed in some toys. I got the boy child in his shark swim trunks, grabbed some baby sunblock, found a nice fluffy beach towel and his sunglasses and out we went into the beautiful sunny warm afternoon, to take a dip in his new "pool".


And here's the closest he would get to the thing:




At first, I thought to myself, "Okay. While he loves the bath, this is outside with like, Nature and Birds Screaming and Sun and it's cold, not warm, and it's just not what he was expecting" so we drained the "pool", then set it aside to dry and cleaned up the area and put all the "pool toys" in the house and yeah I'm a sucker, then I still let him have his cupcake while basking in the warm sun of a weekday late afternoon.

Fast forward to the next day, the Duckie Tub is hanging out in the dining room waiting for the Next Try At Pooltime, and Peter spies it. Um, and his eyes get big and around and he turns around and I am telling you, I've never seen anyone crawl away so fast. Then peek at it from around the corner. So I try to warm him up to it, we inch closer every few minutes and once we're near I pet the duckie and yeah - no. He's not cool with the duckie. I think it's the giant Head and Eyes and the Maniacal Quack it emits when you squeeze the beak.

So, yeah. He's officially Sort-Of-Afraid of Duckies. Which, I find a wee bit hysterical. And kinda sorta maybe make the duckie chase the Doots around the house every once in awhile. I think he likes it though. Or, uh, that's what I tell myself so I still sleep at night.

Anybody Need A Duckie Tub? from Emily Mueller on Vimeo.