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Those Face-Melting Acid Bubbles

At a site today, I overheard a well-meaning teacher of two-year-olds tell a child at a water table, "Don't put those bubbles on your face, you might get them in your eyes or mouth!"

I resisted asking the teacher whether or not she had ever had bubbles in her eyes or mouth, as my presence there was not in a capacity that allowed for much input from me. However, her insistence that it hurt, coupled with the presence of both her eyes, implied that she had in fact gotten soap in her eyes and successfully recovered. Meanwhile, the child was exploring the sensation of bubbles on his face. Minutes before, we had been discussing how he looked like daddy shaving, and how those same dangerous bubbles tickled his cheeks.

While I'm not disputing that there a few things I'd prefer in my eyes to bubble bath, the fact is that this teacher shut down some great sensorial and language learning opportunities for the fear of... temporary discomfort? Needing a towel? The molecules in the soap spontaneously rearranging to become sulfuric acid and melt that child's face?

While of course the safety of the children in our care is paramount, there's something to be said for the occasional encounter with soap suds.

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