On The Meaning of Supervision

No one fights a shower like our little girl... for some reason she wants to argue and postpone and bargain when it's shower time.  What should be an almost daily activity has become more of a bi-weekly event because it's such an ordeal and we don't make the time for it like we should.  Some of you might be saying, why not just send her to the shower on her own?  Why must you be involved?  Problem is her hair is mighty long and terribly thick so she has a hard time getting it clean and washing all the conditioner out.  So shower time around here involves either Mommy or Daddy.

Well this weekend she expressed interest in really wanting to do it all by herself.  She knows that she's getting older and more responsible and therefore has been begging for more independence in a lot of things lately.  As is her nature, she also worries and hesitates because there are so many things that she still has to learn.  She is particularly afraid of learning to drive.  She has wondered "How will I know which streets to turn on?", "How do I turn on the headlights?", "What is that symbol on the dashboard with the triangle?" and "Really, you drive with only one foot?".

Back to showering... she was pleading her case to me while getting dressed on Saturday.  About how we really should let her be responsible for taking a shower on her own and so I said that would be fine, but she needed supervision when it came to her hair.  As she kept arguing with me that she could DO IT ALL BY HERSELF, I said with a somewhat strong tone, "Do you know what supervision means?".  Sanjay being within earshot and also being a bit of a know-it-all said "I know what it means.  It means great eyesight."  I guess he has a point.  Priya and I both started cracking up.  That little guy always knows how to lighten the mood even when it's unintentional.