the great water debate

Yesterday at Babies R Us, I wanted to buy a splash table for Little Miss J. After much thought, Gus decides that we don't need a water table and we'll just give Little Miss J a bucket to play with outside. This morning while I was at the office, Gus took Little Miss J to IKEA and bought a bathtub. He filled it up and put it out on the patio. I kept telling him that this was not comparable to the splash table for a variety of reasons including the fact that it was too low to the ground and she was just going to climb in and take a bath. Well, that is exactly what she did. Clothes, shoes, and all hopped right in and started pouring water over her head. While she definitely had a good time, I was convinced that if she had the table that was a bit higher off the ground she would just splash in it rather than sitting in it.

Later today, we made our weekly Costco run where they were coincidentally selling the same splash table for a bit less money so we bit the bullet and bought it. Gus put it together and we sent Little Miss J out to play.

As you can see, Little Miss J is quite happy with her new toy. I was feeling pretty superior thinking that this was clearly the right option for fun and less messy water play ... until I asked Gus to go outside and check on her. He came back in the house and all he said was, "go look at your daughter." I peeked out the window and this is what I saw:

So much for not getting too wet. Not only had she climbed in and sat down in the water. She had also poured water over her head. And $50 later, I still end up with a soaked little munchkin. Watching her have so much fun made it all worth it though!