‘And the Oscar goes to…’: Baby develops genius defense mechanism to avoid bath time

From the minute we’re born we have to start doing things we don’t want to do.

Sometimes that’s paying taxes or going to the dentist. When you’re younger, it’s going to school or doing household chores. Even babies try to worm their way out of sitting in car seats or taking baths.

Normally, we can’t really get out of doing these things. We can make excuses or put things off, but need or obligation always come around eventually.

However, one baby on TikTok has devised a strategy to get out of doing things she doesn’t want to do, and she has inspired legions of viewers to also give it a try.

In the viral video posted by The Pasini Family, little Annie (who might just replace that famous Four Seasons Orlando baby) is told by her dad that it’s time to take a bath. Annie is old enough to know what this means and experienced enough to know that this is NOT something she is interested in participating in.

But rather than running away or complaining, she lays down on the floor and pretends to be asleep. Her dad attempted to tickle her awake but Annie stayed strong. Her tactic would’ve worked, too, that is if she wasn’t tiny enough to be picked up off the floor and carried to the bath by her father. Unfortunately for Annie, playing dead didn’t work out this time.

If there’s one thing that’s abundantly clear in the comment section, it’s that Annie’s acting skills are top-tier. She has the whole fake sleeping thing down pat. Once she’s too big to carry, it’ll likely come in handy.

Commenters also pointed out that fake sleeping is much better than throwing a tantrum or just throwing things in general. Others likened it to an armadillo or opossum playing dead at the sign of trouble or inconvenience.

But most people have decided to integrate this tactic into their own lives. So the next time your boss asks you to do something you don’t want to do or you get overwhelmed in the office, just pull an Annie and lay on the floor. Chances are your boss won’t try to pick you up like Annie’s dad did, but you might hear from HR.

One viewer noted that she was simply impressed that Dad was initiating bath time. However according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Institute for Research on Poverty, kids with involved dads like Annie’s receive a lot of benefits. Children with involved fathers often have higher academic achievement, fewer behavioral problems, greater social competence, more emotional security, and greater self-esteem than children with absent fathers.

The Pasini Family even made a follow-up video demonstrating how they make collaborative parenting work in their family, from bath time to bedtime and after-dinner clean up.

They certainly used teamwork to awaken their drama queen baby from her pre-bath time performance. If it were all up to one parent, who would hold the camera?

Unfortunately for Annie, faux sleeping hasn’t quite worked out for her when evading bath time but hopefully the tactic will work out for the thousands of commenters who have been inspired by her viral, Oscar-worthy performance.