My Little Mermaid

Mermaid Dreams

When I was a little kid, I was obsessed with mermaids. I really did believe mermaids where real and that they could ride on the backs of Giant Sea horses. I remember someone telling me that if I went swimming in the Ocean on Good Friday I would turn into a mermaid. Man, was I gullible, because I really did believe it would work. I jumped in the Corozal Bay and paddled around, patiently waiting for my 2 legs to transform into my beautiful new fish tail. Id finally be able to unlock the secrets of the Ocean and understand what fish were thinking. Took me a couple years to figure out that The Little Mermaid was just a movie. The biggest surprise came in high school when I learned that sea horses were tiny little creatures the size of my finger.  Although I grew up and gave up on my dream of swimming the infinite Ocean, I am now blessed with a little mermaid of my own.

The Anti Mermaid

I now knew I was expecting a baby girl. I fantasized about bathing her 3 times a day so she would smell sweet like a fresh baby 24/7. I would comb her hair and place pretty bows on her head and I would dress her in all the hundreds of pink dresses I had received as gifts. After 8 months of swimming around in my belly, Mayah was ready to leave her little pond in exchange for dry land. The doctor had to give me a steroid shot to make sure Mayah’s lungs would be mature, just in case she came early. From before her birth, Mayah hated water. Mayah was a planned C section. I remember waiting in my room anxiously for my turn in the operating theatre.  About 3 babies were born by c section before mine and I could hear each of them make their first cry very loudly.

When Mayah was born, she was not loud at all, hardly a lil squeak, however, she was a picture of perfect health.  Back in my room, the grandparents were there doting over her cute dimples as she happily smiled in her sleep. It was as if Mayah was just happy to be on dry land and out of the water. When the nurse took her away for a bath, that’s when Mayah decided to use those lungs of hers. She would literally scream and cry bloody murder every single time she had to take a bath. Scared the crap out of me, I thought I was doing something wrong. Looking back at it now, maybe it was a sensory thing I don’t know. She hated water, hated changing her clothes and most of all hated combing the little hair she had on her head.

A transformation

A couple months after Mayah’s birth, the summer’s heat came rolling in. Little by little, Mayah started to enjoy her bath time. By the time she was 2, she could not go a day without taking at least 4 baths per day. Sometimes, she would sit in her tub and splash for more than an hour. I eventually had to keep my bathroom door locked because now this child could not part herself from the water. She even found the water in the toilet amazing as she tried to stuff all my toiletries in and watch them float. Mayah outgrew her baby tub so I bought a big plastic wash tub and it became her best friend. Wanting to enjoy the water with her, we got an Intex pool for the back yard. Now the both of us spent hours a day splashing around pretending to be mermaids.

Mermaids Don’t Wear Pants

 Because of the heat, I never forced her to wear much clothes in the house, I just wanted her to feel comfortable. When Covid hit Belize, we stayed at home, hardly needing to go anywhere. After over a year of lounging around the house with no pants, it was now impossible to get pants on this girl for 2 reasons, 1 – she now hated pants and 2 – I didn’t realize she grew so tall and none of her pants now fit. It’s amazing how fast kids grow right In front of your eyes. Instead of going through the stress of forcing her into pants, or going clothes shopping, I just put on a dress if we had to leave the house, I did not feel like dealing with tantrums about wearing clothes when we didn’t have anywhere to go anyway. This totally backfired on me when cold fronts started rolling in. It could be freezing cold in the house and her legs cold as ice, but Mayah did not want to wear her pants. I would have to wait until she was asleep, then slide her pants on.  Several times at a restaurant Mayah started stripping off her clothes running around in diapers. It’s like she was trying to tell me mermaids don’t wear pants.

Dread Lock Mermaid

Mayah did not like combing her hair. At first, I was ok with it since she didn’t have much hair, but as those curls started growing longer it was evident that I needed to break out the wide tooth comb. Swimming every day in the pool was taking a tole on those curls. I watched countless YouTube videos on products and best ways to wash, moisturize and detangle kids hair. A lot of products labelled as kids detanglers in the store didn’t have any effect on this dread lock mermaid’s hair. Eventually I ditched the kids products and used the regular stuff I used in my own hair. Finally, her hair felt manageable, but as for the detangling process, we had to work on it very slowly and patiently. We eventually found what works for us. I started by giving her my phone with a video she enjoyed, and gently worked on her hair. She got use to the sensation and didn’t mind getting her hair combed anymore.

Progress

Now at the age of 5, Mayah still loves playing in water every day. By next month it should be hot enough to bring out the bigger pool. For now, she is contented with her bath tub. I don’t have any problems combing her hair anymore. Her favorite style is ponytails with twists on the ends. She dances and sings I got a p p p p ponytail. Best of all, I finally got her to keep her pants on. Thank goodness, Mayah won’t be stripping her clothes off in public anymore.