Now that Eunice had just turned six, her mother thought it was time for her to begin bathing on her own. Her Penelope Puffer Fish, Rubber Ducky, and Mr. Floaty Boat, had been gathering cobwebs in the corner of the bathroom for quite some time. So, Mother decided to try to convince Eunice to pack away her old babyish toys by appealing to her sense of pride in being able to handle bathtime all on her own. Eunice agreed to this plan with one exception. She still loved her old set of brightly colored nesting cups and insisted on leaving them out to play with. She would never tire of practicing her measuring skills by pouring water from one sized cup to another or watching big bubbles rise as she plunged the cups, open side down, into the water then turned them upward to allow huge orbs of air to come bubbling up to the surface.
When the evening of her big bathing event arrived, she was especially excited because she was being allowed to use the new bottle of M’Lady’s Bathing Bliss Bubble Bath her Aunt Mildred had recently given her as a birthday gift. It was in a little pink octagonal bottle that looked almost too pretty to open.
“Now, Eunice,” Mother said reassuringly. “I’ll be close by if you need anything, but I do want you to keep the door closed to keep out the drafts.”
Eunice got a very worried look on her face as she asked, “Will it keep out the elephants too?”
Mother looked very puzzled momentarily until it dawned on her what Eunice was thinking. “Not giraffes,” explained Mother, ” Drafts, D-R-A-F-T-S,” she spelled. “It means the cold air.” Eunice’s mother felt perfectly confident in spelling out words to Eunice now that she was six years old, in first grade and well on her way to learning how to read.
Feeling more at ease now that she knew she would not be stampeded by wild animals while soaking in the tub, Eunice began thinking about the things her mother always did whenever she prepared a bath. She felt very grown up as she remembered each step: putting the plug into the drain, turning on the faucets, and carefully testing the temperature, all by herself, before climbing into the tub. She then opened her brand-new beautiful bottle of bubble bath and carefully read the directions before choosing the precise cup from her little set to measure out the exact amount of the shining liquid to pour into the running water.
As the bubbles rose up around her, she began to relax, singing one of her favorite bathtime songs.
“Oh solo Mio! Oh solo meeee. Oh solo Mio, oh solo meeee!,”
she crooned, impressing herself with the rich melodious sound of her own voice as it echoed back from the bathroom’s tile-covered walls.
She was so enjoying her singing that she failed to realize how quickly and abundantly a deep cloud of bubbly foam began billowing up around her. She was amazed at how thick, luxuriant and velvety the bubbles were. Far beyond anything she could have ever imagined! And they were so much fun to play with! She scooped them up in piles like rich whipped cream. She piled them on top of her head like a great bouffant hairdo. She patted them onto her face to pretend she was Santa Clause in his fluffy white beard. She held a big creamy scoop in each hand and shouted,
“Who wants to try a slice of my delicious homemade lemon meringue pies?”
Hearing this, Eunice’s mother decided to peek in on her to see how she was faring. To her shock and surprise, all she could see were two limp antennae poking out from mountains of soapy foam that was so thick, it rose high above the rim of the bathtub.
“Eunice! What happened to you?!?!?”
Whisking the fluffy foam out of her face with a little puff of breath and wiping the suds from her eyes Eunice stood up and said, ” Nothing, Mom. I’m just taking a bubble bath.”
“But Eunice! There are so many bubbles! How much did you use?!?”
“I used exactly what the directions said,” she answered. Holding up the bottle and enunciating each word carefully, she read, “Pour one cupful into running bathwater for an incomparable bathing experience.”
“Oh my,” said Eunice’s mother, as she held the bottle to read the directions herself, “It says one CAPFUL, C-A-P-F-U-L not CUPFUL, C-U-P-F-U-L.”
“Ohhh,” said Eunice, nodding her head slowly in understanding, “That explains it.”
“Explains what?” asked her mom.
“Why even though it said, “one cupful,” the whole bottle only barely filled half a cup.”
Eunice’s mother surveyed the situation with her arms wrapped tightly around her middle and her lips pressed firmly together in a straight line. Then her shoulders began to shake and her lips began to quiver as she tried very hard to keep from bursting into peals of laughter. Finally regaining her composure, she said, “Well Eunice, you did manage to bathe all by yourself, and I must admit, despite your little misstep, your reading skills really are improving quite nicely.”
Smiling proudly to herself, Eunice pulled out the stopper to drain the bathwater. As she stood staring at the big mound of suds left standing in the bottom of the tub, she said, “It’s amazing what a huge difference one tiny letter can make.”
“Yes,” agreed Mother as she eyed the sudsy mess, “It certainly is.”
