Waterboarding Ezra
…I waterboarded Ezra. It happened during today’s bath. He was already fussy and tired from daycare. The bath was the last thing he wanted. Well, other than getting waterboarded.
Of course, I did it by accident. I was wiping his face free of the soap. He began shaking his head back and forth while fussing red faced and tense. His entire body taut. I tried to wipe his eyes clean of soap again but this only made his cries louder, face more red, body more tense.
Wanting only to clean Ezra’s face of the soap and not wanting to upset him by wiping his face again, I thought that squeezing water from the wash cloth over his face would be a good idea. I thought, <It’s how I clean my face in the shower.> As I was squeezing the water from the wash cloth, I heard Valerie say, „He’s not going to like that.”
He didn’t. The water ran down his face and into his mouth and he choked. The crying became a rage of tears between the gagging and coughing. He screamed and began to shake. He wouldn’t calm down. He was very mad and unhappy. All he could do was cry. I then realized I simulated waterboarding with Ezra. I looked up at Valerie and said, „I just waterboarded Ezra.”
I felt bad. The rest of the bath was difficult. Every time I touched him to clean or rinse the rest of his body he cried and cried. And I felt worse.