Thursday, April 15, 2010

Unrefined Parenting

At the store recently, I saw a woman pick her son out of a shopping cart, then put his backside up to her nose as she inhaled deeply. I can’t tell you how many times I used to do that, along with grabbing the back of a diaper to judge whether there was a “nugget” inside. And, if I was in a hurry, I would just go ahead and stick my finger right in to feel if it was dirty.

Why is this type of behavior acceptable? Because being a parent gives you free reign to do gross things. When you start a family, you gain children, but you lose your dignity. The very nature of having kids is rather icky. It may be a miracle, but no matter how a baby comes out, it's not a pretty sight.

It's really the day to day parenting that can be rather offensive though. I lost track of the amount of times I’ve licked my thumb to get dirt off a face, and to calm fly-away hair. Not to mention the many instances I slurped formula off my wrist after testing its temperature. Either that, or I just went ahead and wiped it on my pants. I have come to the rescue as a bug-smasher and dead animal picker-upper. I have caught vomit in my bare hands, and cleaned projectile poop off a wall. It seems to me, being a Mom is much like joining a fraternity.

I have cut toenails which resembled talons, and I’ve pulled a hair out of my gagging son’s throat. I have picked boogers with a toothpick, and yanked ear wax out with tweezers. And once, on a playdate at the park, I let my friend's kid poop in a plastic bag propped up inside my Igloo cooler.

Let there be no doubt…kids are the reason bleach was invented.

2 comments:

Your Mama said...

ANOTHER brilliant post....I laughed all the way through!

Mark and Emily said...

Hahaha!! I'm discovering the truth to this post everyday! When we came home from the hospital I was changing Elizabeth's messy diaper and didn't get the next one under there quick enough. She starting to poop and all I had was a wipe to catch it with, man was I thankful for that wipe though!!

Believe in Yourself

Have you ever been in a situation that made you feel like no matter what you did, you were not going to make it out? Or maybe had that one d...