Sticky, Messy, & all Mine  5/21/2013

When you think back to the time before becoming a parent and you try to remember your thoughts about “how is it going to be”. I don’t think any first time parent really had a clue.  We envision these cute and cooing little people who grow into cute and fun little people, and eventually cute and independent kids.  While some of this may be true, there is the reality hidden behind this fairy tale (because truly it’s not real):  babies & kids are often sticky and generally messy.  
 I know I have ranted about poop in the past and of course that is the mother-load of mess.  But at least that has a chance of being contained however ungraceful it may seem.  No the yuck that is never makes an appearance in any pre-baby fantasy scenario – is the constant yuck;  the non-stop drool, boogers, tacky hands, sneezes, sleeve wipes, and food spills that happen every day. 
Matty worried someone might try to take his breakfast away.
 Matty, adorable as he looks, is a big mess.  He is a  constant drooler.  Yes I realize getting 3 molars at the same time (15 months – 12 teeth already) makes your mouth moist.  But really, he is like a Saint Bernard with so much drool that it sometimes leads down to the floor where it leaves a little pool.  Maybe if he at least carried a drink for me around his neck I could drink past, …I mean take a hazy look past …his mess.  He also has the constant runny nose.  This is at its worst in the morning.  He is a mini vampire with the boogers that sit like fangs under his nose.  Just to add to the mix he is totally in the “hate to get my nose wiped stage” so when you try to get it off, he quickly jerks his head and the snot just smears across his cheeks. On the days I go to work I don’t dare put on my work pants until I am just about ready to jet out the door lest he sneak up behind me and offer a big kiss the back of my leg and I walk around all day with dried who knows what on my pants.  I even invested in a supply of cheap sweatshirts and yoga pants to wear while I’m home so I can preserve a few clean pieces for public outings and maintain some sense of self-respect.    
Will is the sticky hand/ snot on the sleeve culprit.  He does occasionally think to grab a tissue, but let’s be honest, it is much quicker to wipe your nose on a sleeve then to stop playing with that cool truck and take the four steps across the room.  With the sleeve he of course does not do the best job and he, like his brother, has the cheek smear.  Using one’s sleeve is just a short stroke away from using your hand so if you haven’t finished the wipe, just keep going.  No worries about the smutch on your fingers.  Sure – go have lunch while you are at it, no need to wash up.
I tell the boys getting dirty while playing is the mark of a day well spent.  It is different though when the getting dirty is just a part of who you are.  This type of dirty is just a little less charming, a little less easy to incorporate into the idealized, magazine type kid of those early fantasies.  But I guess that’s why those stories are just fairy tales.  Reality, ups and downs, runny noses and teething is truly sweeter, even if it is a sticky kind of sweet. 
William adding to the yuck by sucking on his clothes & coats all winter long!

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