Bubbles

We all love bubbles, for one reason or another. Here’s my take:

“Blowing bubbles” wasn’t all that appealing to me as a kid. I guess it was too much work, and always eventually became slimy. We had the bubble pipes, the wands, and the things that supposedly made the giant bubbles, but they never worked. I always ended up somehow sucking the bubbles up through the pipe and choking on bubble juice. Good thing it was non-toxic.

We didn’t have “bubble baths” on a regular basis at our house. We had well water with so many minerals in it there was no way a bubble of any sort could survive. So, we got to take bubble baths when we went to Mimi’s house. And to make it even better, she had a Jacuzzi tub.

We’d pile into Mimi’s tub (hey, we were little kids – gimme a break) and she would put in the bubbles and turn the jets on. We’d feign excitement and she’d hang around for a bit, then leave. That’s when we pulled the bubbles back out and added about half the bottle to the tub. That was fun. She’d come back in, wondering how we got so many bubbles in the tub. I’m sure she figured it out, but she let us believe we were pulling the wool (or bubbles in this case) over her eyes. Then came the dreaded bar of soap. If you ever need a bubble-killer, Ivory soap is the king. She’d slip a bar of Ivory soap down into the tub and leave again. We’d frantically try to find it and fish it out of the tub before it massacred all of our precious bubbles, trying to make the bubble bath last as long as possible. She’d come back, irritated that the bubbles were still alive and well, that her grandchildren were shriveled up like raisins and water was splashed over half the bathroom. I’m sure she was tired of this whole game. She’d eventually pull the plug and we’d whine as she grabbed a cup and doused us with what seemed like hot water since we’d been sitting in water that had turned cold long ago. We eventually all made our way out of the tub and drug our wet feet all over the bathroom as we played yet another game while we dried off.

Curly and I used to have bubble fights while we were exiled to cleaning the kitchen. It usually started because we were mad at one another over something stupid (usually her taking half an hour in the bathroom just as the kitchen had to be cleaned). By the time the bubble fight ended, we were wet, the kitchen was wet, we’d forgotten what we were mad about, and now for some reason Dad was usually a little upset. Go figure.

Nowadays, a bubble bath is a rare luxury. We finally have a house with a tub worth sitting in, and I love it. I don’t do it enough. I did, however, go a little overboard the first time I took a bubble bath. I didn't properly gauge the right quantity of 'stuff' to put in the tub and I had to frantically call for Husband to bring the dreaded bar of soap just so I wouldn’t suffocate in the massive quantity of bubbles. He walked in and found my head poking out of a giant mound of bubbles and started making fun of my inability to use something as simple as bubble bath properly. I deserved it.

My dogs love bubbles. Just saying the word causes a frenzy to break out. Criket is beside herself, running in circles around your feet. Argus continuously jumps up to eye-level just to make sure you know he’s excited about the prospect. We go outside, and blow the bubbles for them. They run around like little maniacs, snapping at bubbles close to the ground, and up in the air. Watching the acrobatics it takes to catch all of these bubbles makes you tired. They end up with dead bubbles all over their faces, even foam at the mouth a little sometimes. Again, good thing they’re non-toxic. It’s great exercise for them and all you have to do is have a little lung capacity in order to blow them through the little yellow wand that hasn’t changed since we were kids.

I love bubbles. They bring back great memories, they help relax me, and they entertain my dogs when I want to be lazy. One of these days, I’ll have to teach my future kids how to blow bubbles without sucking the juice up the stupid bubble pipe – if I can even figure out how to do it by then.