Bath: nemesis no more?

There are many things that dumbfound parents, I'm sure, but we recently ran up against one that was hard to conquer. Kate started refusing (and by this I mean full-blown screaming, crying, ABSOLUTELY refusing) to take baths. It started more than a month ago when she had an accident in the bath. And I don't mean the falling down kind of accident. Even though I made it out to be no big deal, told her it happens to everyone, showed her the clean bathtub, etc., etc., she completely freaked out the next time I tried to get her in the bath. If she was just being obstinate and silly about it I would have just kept her in there, but she was visibly scared by it and would just scream, "I want to get out!" I tried everything I could think of to remedy the situation. I tried getting in, but she wanted me out just as much. We went to the store and bought new bubbles, a colorful loofah and some new toys (a truck even!). I bought bath crayons, which she liked but only if she could stand outside the tub while she used them. So, up until last week, I've been "bathing" her wherever I can. Sometimes just outside the tub, which I don't recommend because it really is annoyingly messy. Sometimes in the shower at the athletic club before we went swimming. And a lot of the time, she got a "bath" in her wading pool in the front yard. I felt really bad for her, but the problem wore on me because I kept wondering what in the world we could do to fix it, when it would pass and what we would do when the weather got colder. FINALLY, late last week I decided I had to draw the line. I kept telling her all kids have to take baths and there is nothing to be scared about. We spent one afternoon painting and I kept telling her she was going to take a nice bubble bath after since she was covered in paint. I marched her up there and got in myself. At first she wanted out, but I just told her I'd probably stay in there for a looooong time because it was so much fun. After a few minutes, she wanted in and, since then, she's had no issues. Except for now she wants me to come in every time. And I'm not really a bath person. But, oh well, it's one of the small sacrifices we make for kids (and clean hair). :)