The welcoming sunshine has arrived, and with it, noises that once more match those of the "The Exorcist," which means that we are on the neighbour's radar again as serial killers...
Sunscreen lotion!
I am sure we aren't the only one whose child becomes possessed when the bottle of sunscreen lotion appears? Usain Bolt would have a job trying to catch my daughter and apply the lotion. The screams, crying and tantrums that unfurl when trying to cover her up make "The Exorcist" look like an episode of "The Teletubbies." She only has to hear the lid pop and it's like a pistol at the start of a race, she sprints off like Linford Christie. The battle to try and catch her is apparently a great game, melodic giggles fill the air until she is caught. Then she wriggles like a worm, throws herself on the ground, shouts, screams and bites if you aren't quite quick enough to move.
Again, we needed to think outside the box. How could we get the sun cream on her and avoid being arrested for murder? We tried several methods such as, trying to apply it whilst she was trapped in her pushchair, which you think would be easier as she is in one place, but it is just as torturous! She pulls the hood over her face which firstly means you can’t see what you are doing, and secondly you can’t really get close enough as the hood blocks access. Clever! Then, there is more wriggling and screaming whilst you limbo dance in a bid to try and get some on her. We also experimented with the element of surprise! We have attempted to sneak up behind her, ninja style, whilst she is least expecting it, or so we thought, and tried to apply it, but the lid popping hindered us and resulted in another chase. We have also tried to apply it while she is distracted by a television programme, for example, but with similar results. In addition to this, we also tried to reason with her, to explain why we were putting it on, and we modelled putting in on ourselves, again to no avail, trying to reason with a toddler is like trying to reason with Boris, pointless! So, it was back to the drawing board.
However, today I thought I had found the solution! Letting her apply her own cream... How delusional was I? Maybe I had Sun Stroke? It had clearly melted my remaining brain cell. This epiphany came to me after my daughter found my lip sunscreen, and I had observed her using her finger to dig out the cream and apply it to her face. It was a light bulb moment, or so I thought. I thought if she could put it on her own face using my lip cream, maybe she could put it on her face from a tube of cream then we could try and rub it in…This was at least half the battle won, it would be on her face...Nappy changes are usually more bearable since she enjoys being allowed to put some cream on her bottom (although we did have to stop giving her the tube to do this as she liked to empty the entire tube onto herself, ruining her clothes, and wasting money, so now we squeeze some out and she takes some of this) so I thought the same method might work here? What could possibly go wrong with a two-year-old in the garden with a tube of Sun Lotion? I must have had a lobotomy during the night! Déjà vu! I chased her round the garden to try and grab it off her (I should have used the nappy cream experience here as a guide!) once I observed her running round the garden manically laughing whilst squeezing it all out of the tube. It was like a foam party minus the nightclub! Scooping it off the tube onto her hands and guiding her hands to her face to put it on herself, was not good enough, apparently, I had spoiled her fun. Scenes from "The Exorcist" resumed. I was back to square one! Surely, I thought to myself, there must be a way to put the cream on without such drama? So far, it was evading me, so it's back to the drawing board.
Even when we do manage to get some sun lotion on her, she looks like she has been paintballing as it's almost impossible to rub it in, due to her evasion techniques, therefore, the coverage is not the best, however it is better than nothing, and so far, she has avoided burning, which is truly a miracle!
If anyone has any other tips, please rescue us and share them here.