Parental Right of Passage #.....whose counting anymore?

Bath time....not my favorite time of day, but my daughter LOVES bath time. It's not that I don't get enjoyment of seeing her get all giddy about getting clean, it's just one of those mundane things you have to do, plus I usually get wet and have to use my mean mommy voice.
So, it always starts something like this: "Lilla, it's bath time", Lilla breaks a huge smile and starts running around like we've told her Santa is standing right outside. Then, "ok, let's turn on the water", Lilla's response "Lilla do", of course. (If you spend about 5 minuets around Lilla, you will find her favorite phase to be "Lilla do" or "mine") Now, if I don't let her help it's full on tear-filled melt down. She can only reach the cold water, so she does let mom turn on the hot.....I'm kinda waiting for the day where she throws a fit at letting me help with that...nobody likes ice cold water in their bath, i don't care who you are.
Next: time to take off her clothes, to which she instists "Lilla do". So, she takes off her pants (which she can do pretty much all by herself). When this is done, she takes a lap (full-speed) around the house. Next, right sock....lap, the left sock.....lap.....this is when I have to catch her, because the next thing to come off is her diaper. She very rarely gets to run around the house without a diaper....hence the catching. By this time, the water and bubbles are ready for her, so I whip off her diaper (praying for no poopies),then her shirt, and dunk her in the water.
Now, a reason I may not like bath time is because I get the negotiation tasks. Meaning, I have to wash and condition her hair and wash her body.....all with very delicate negoitations going on at all times. At any time, she could burst into tears because I've dumped water on her head, or she can't reach a toy or so on and so forth. Lilla is also now all about the splash. The larger and more frequent the better. Our negotiations on this is that she can splash towards the shower wall, NOT towards Mommy and not on the floor. Our bathroom would be flooded if no rules would be set. I find myself saying "NO splashing, or NO kicking, or No....somthing a lot, which makes me feel bad because who wants rules? But, I also don't want water running into my basement bathroom. Anywho, I can take about 10-15 mins of this, and then John is called in for reinforcements. My patience has been used up and I need some mommy down time (even if for 5 mins). Or, which was the case last night, there is some other random mundane task to be done (last night it was un-loading the dishwasher). So, John takes over for the playing in the tub, getting out, and putting on of the jammies and lotion. That's his lot in life. This routine, however, works for us.....well at least for me.....I've never actually asked John. (I hope it does because he saves Lilla from the rath of person who has lost her patience).
So, last night, while un-loading the dishwasher I hear laughing by both and it warms my heart....I then hear giggles and Lilla saying "bubbles!". Now, I know she already has bubbles from her bubble bath, so I can only guess that these are self-made bubbles, which is confirmed by John's giggles. What a great sound. This goes on for about a minuet or two, and then all of the sudden I hear..."ha ha ha"...."NO NO NO" from John. He's not mad, just surprised and from Lilla I hear "I pooped". Yep, she did it.....she pooped in the bath tub. I can then hear swishing of water and John frantically saying "Don't touch that"....my super mommyness kicks in and I run to the bathroom to find my daughter (all smiles) dripping and dangling from her Daddy's hands. I grab the towel, grab my daughter and bring her into her room to lotion and jammi her. I'm not bitter that I have to do all of the bath time chores now, because I have explained to John that he will indeed be the person to be cleaing the tub since "it" happened was on his watch. We (lilla and myself) then have to have the "no pooping in the tub, poop in the toilet" conversation.....more rules....ugh.
Like I've said all along Lilla keeps us guessing and on our toes, and even though bath time is not my favorite thing to do, it's worth seeing the joy it brings to her.....and I guess that's what it's all about.....her smiles and laughter.
Sorry no pictures this time.....I didn't think it was appropriate nor wanted....you understand. =)