Caring for your wee one . . . it should be a piece of cake, right? I was totally one of those young childless women who judged moms and their inability to adequately "care" for their children. More specifically, I am referring to their inability to keep their little rugrats clean and tidy and well, snot-free?! "Is baby care really such a chore?", I would scold at the sight of drippy, runny nostrils. Is it really so hard to wipe that crusty nose, trim those scraggly nails and put a Q-tip into those waxy ear holes? Really?Well, I am here to say YES, yes it is.
NOSE: As my little Noah Finn experiences his first runny nose ever, I am struggling to keep it mucous-free before it dries into an impenetrable crust of snot. He hates his face being wiped, or even touched for that matter, with a cloth, hand, or finger in any way. He twists and squirms, hollers and worms his way out of my desperate cloth-clad hands.
NAILS: Those little daggers at the finger's and toe's tips are a whole other battle to be fought and often lost. They are frequently filled with the afternoon's visit to the sandbox and jagged to the point that they can be wielded as a playground weapon. Cleaning and cutting those little finger and toe nails are challenging to even the most skilled cutter . . . so tiny and so fast those little hands a feet flail!
EARS: The two small cavernous openings on the side of the head that house waxy goo seem to be illusive to even the quickest q-tip. Careful not to insert it too deep or else render your little tot soundless for the rest of his life . . . you struggle to gently sweep it in circular motions, slowly and softly as the ear's owner looks left to right and right to left in quick jerks . . . making the ears an illusive prey too sly to catch for a much needed cleaning.
So, fellow moms with grubby tots, I will judge thee not if thee not judge me. Let us go forth, together, with kids in need of a scrub hoping that today is the day that our tots will find the tub!
8 comments:
you crack me up! so funny. so true. ezra has his first runny nose too... and darned if i can't keep that thing clean. he HATES me getting near it. so, yes... i'm on board!
Those drawings are SCARY!!!
I'm lucky our BabyBug hardly ever gets a cold, and her ears always look clean (don't ask me!).
But nails? Frankenstein has nothing on her.
Amen!! I totally judged in my pre-child days. Those baby nails grow at an alarming rate!! I'm glad that daddy is in charge of Fin's mani/pedi.
I don't think you're actually supposed to use Q-Tips to clean ears. They can leave behind fibers which will cause more trouble.
That said. I still use them on my ears sometimes.
And wow, am I supposed to be cleaning the inside of my baby's ears? 'Cuz I totally haven't been. @_@
Well said!
Thanks, mamas for all of your fabulous comments! Navigating this new world of older infanthood is wild and wily! May we all survive to see another day...lol! xoxo
You took the words right out of my mouth, lady! Cutting those tiny little razors at the end of my babygirl's precious tiny fingers is perilous, at best. And those graphics CRACKED me up!
I'm always amazed at how fast Henry can whip his little head around to avoid the nose wipe. The filthy razor claws now need trimming twice weekly...I prefer the "sneak attack whilst napping" over the "hold still, Henry" method. Weirdly, he kind of likes having his ears cleaned, possibly because his daddy and I are fanatical Q-tippers ourselves. Yeah, having a baby is grubby business.
XO Carrie
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