Friday, July 04, 2008

I Could Puke!

Nils and I are what you might call "liberal" in the I'm so paranoid about every little thing I can't enjoy life unless my kids are in a cage department. We only wash pacifiers off if they're visibly dirty. I KNOW! THE HORROR! I let my baby eat Cheetos off the floor. I let her crawl around the sidewalk outside, and I don't care if she gets dirty. I let her explore the house and the yard without having to be 2 inches behind her at all times. This morning Anders came home from a friends' house and told me he stuck his head in the gutter water. I didn't care. I let Anders and Addie play outside in our yard or cul-de-sac while I peek out the window every few minutes. Here is further proof of our negligence:

This is Addie, sitting in a camping chair, eating Cheerios...
WITH TWEEZERS!

This is how I found Aani one night when I went to check on her. I know, I know, I was actually checking on my children, which goes against my liberalness. You can only be so bad for so long.
This is Anders with his new Spiderman underwear. Incidentally, it was brand new out of the package (I know you were wondering if it was clean or not).
I've encountered some uber-paranoid people lately, and seriously- I could puke. Yes, I'm aware that Anders is riding his bike with flip-flops on. Addie poured sand on her head? That's nice. Aani pulled herself up and is trying to push the stroller? Ummm....she's learning to walk. Oh, but she might fall on her keister? Don't worry, she has a nice soggy diaper to cushion her fall.

ARE YOU WITH ME? HUH?

8 comments:

Melanie Palmer said...

I'm actually the same as you in that department, but I'm on the "down-low" because my husband is F-R-E-A-K-Y about that stuff. When it's just me with the kids (which is 99% of the time), I could care less, but I fake it the other 1% of the time. I would've loved to post some pictures on my blog, but he reads it...wait... he doesn't read yours...

I wish I had a way to post a picture here. I have the most classic example of my 9 month old playing with Tylenol PM while open scissors are inches away from her naked tushie.

Long story short...you're not alone, just some of us can't openly admit it ;)

*Jane Lee* said...

AMEN SISTA! I really think people just need to lighten up. At the end of the day, everyone can just plop their kiddos in the tub so they'll be all clean to start making messes again the next day. All I can say, and you can probably vouch for this, is that my kid HARDLY EVER get sick. Attribute this to drinking gutter water and seeing if something growing out of our back rocks tastes like lettuce. :o)

Brownie Bites said...

I'm so glad I'm not the only one.

Farrah said...

I'm with my friend "the new mom" and the overprotectedness is getting a little old for me already. So thanks for showing me how "normal" people operate. Rock on!

Jamie said...

I am so with you, sister. Caleb is my "dirtiest" kid and he is the only one of my kids that NEVER gets sick. It just proves that eating melted cheese right off the ground like a dog at Five Buck Pizza can only make you stronger. (Yes, that would be Caleb)

Emmy Bludorn said...

It's so nice there are other parents like us. I think little Matt lived off of the sand he ate at the playground for a whole summer. Other parents would point out to me that he was shoving fistfuls in his mouth. "Oh really? Huh." was usually my reply. I attribute all of these things to the fact that my kids are never sick - they have built up immunities though all the dirt that they accumulate in and on them.

5 little speckled frogs said...

I guess I fall somewhere in the middle. Everything you described - to me - is normal and funny (our kids are related, what can I say?) I will admit to my share of issues though. With Holland, I was a germophobe, but she did catch everything (remember the cough that made Anders cry?)- then we found out she has asthma - now she doesn't catch everything & I don't worry anymore. With Haven, remember when she used to faint? So glad that seems to be over! I was scared to leave her anywhere where I couldn't see her (that was then). With Garett, it's head injuries - the poor kid has had so many I wonder how he survives! However, I don't cut up my kids' hot dogs & grapes until they're 3 (or even 18 mos) and I feed them marshmallows with gusto (one of the top 10 choking hazards you know?). Have you ever noticed that if you freak out about something your kids will too? I mean, they freak out about enough stuff already....no need to add to the drama...unless it's a real safety issue - that's when I'm the mean mom - 18 month olds don't belong in the street - especially unsupervised....now I'll get off my soap box - this book is long enough already!

mooresclan said...

That's a pretty big knife your child is playing with.