Apparently I am a bad mother in ways I didn’t even know about.
Picking up Ironflower from school today was ALMOST pleasant (For the reasons why this is such a big deal, go here. . Or here. After exhausting Lovebug at a new park, he conveniently fell asleep in the car. He even stayed asleep when I pulled into Ironflower’s school to park. I left him sleeping and ventured to the playground. Ironflower ran to me happily. Mrs. G gave her a big hug good-bye and praised her outgoing nature (making all those stupid sign-up sheets I had to create for the Halloween party worth it). All was so right with the world that Ironflower and I paused on the sidewalk to chat about her day.
And that’s when I saw one little boy take his brother’s cup and drink from it. They too were paused on the sidewalk, though their mom was chatting with other moms, not them. Anyway, the brother protested and the mom flipped. She shrieked about the perils of drinking from other people’s cups and proceeded to wipe down the cup with an alcohol wipe before handing it back to the original owner.
You know what I do when Lovebug takes Ironflower’s cup and drinks from it? I grab it back from him and give it to her. Or sometimes I give her his. I just never thought it was a big deal. Ever since the first time a six month old Ironflower grabbed the straw of my Diet Coke and started drinking, I’ve been very lax about the family sharing cups. I never realized it was a battle I should have been fighting.
Will I ever leave that school without being emotionally scarred?
7 responses so far ↓
daddy drivel // October 23, 2007 at 11:33 pm
I was hanging out with my stroller gang in the park yesterday and the bacteriaphobic alpha mom who runs the gang had some food stuck in her throat and need water, I gave her her daughters sippy cup and she looked at me like I was crazy.
If the kids are swapping spit with the toys, what’s the difference if they take a slug off a sippy cup?
captain corky // October 24, 2007 at 11:35 am
I’m not to worried about germs affecting my son. From now on when I take Max outside I’m going encase him in a plastic bubble.
Jerseygirl89 // October 24, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Daddy Drivel - My thoughts exactly. But apparently we’re some kind of minority. Maybe we need a support group.
Captain Corky - I’ve actually read that there are more dangerous germs IN the house. You should probably keep in the bubble all the time. (Didn’t they make a movie about that?)
Tracy // October 25, 2007 at 4:52 pm
I think the world’s gone goofy about germs! (And understand that I worked for 7 years as a nursing home administrator so I’m extremely familiar with the principles of infection control.) My theory is that life is messy and a moderate amount of germs just builds our children’s immune systems. I keep a clean house, my kids were always clean at the start of the day and I just don’t sweat the small stuff.
Jerseygirl89 // October 26, 2007 at 2:48 am
Tracy - Thank you - I especially like your point about your kids being clean at the start of the day - I totally agree.
silken // October 26, 2007 at 3:42 am
ugh, another unsaved comment!! I’ll try again….
I think I will win the bad mommy award for sharing germs:
when my son was about five, I MADE him SHARE A CUP with his COUSIN who had chicken pox! I wanted to be sure he got them (instead of the vaccine!) so I made them share a drink! it worked…he got the pox and we avoided the vaccine! bad mommy!
Leslie // October 29, 2007 at 3:50 pm
We share cups like we share air at our house. It’s no biggie.
You’re not a bad mom.
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