I don't know why I remember this particular bath. I'd had lots of baths as a child. My parents were loving, devoted caregivers and they made sure I was clean. I am sure I had lots of different toys in the tub and played many different games - but the only one that sticks in my mind is playing with a facecloth and pretending to be Cinderella.
You know the scene. Cinderella is kneeling in the front foyer of her mansion house. She scrubs the floor while her stepsisters are upstairs singing "Sing sweet nightingale" and playing the flute. Cinderella begins singing. A sweet rendition of the same melody. Bubbles are floating everywhere, mice are lulled into dream-like trances. Cinderella scrubs the floor. I scrubbed the tub. Cinderella sang, I sang. Cinderella looked at her reflection in floating bubbles. I blew on the bubbly foam that accumulated in the corners of the tub, pretending to see my reflection. And then the moment is gone. Lucifer the cat pops all the bubbles when he trounces around with dirty paws. As I cleaned the tub, I used to exclaim, in solidarity with my cinderella-sister, "Lucifer! You mean old thing! I'm just going to have to teach you a lesson".
