Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Confessions of a (Slightly) Germaphobic Mom

I love my children, and I am so grateful for them! However, some things they do I find completely disgusting.

Confession: I am a germaphobe. The various fluids that come out of my children gross me out.
 Spit, tears, mucus, poop, pee, ear drainage (my daughter has tubes in her ears).  They are disgusting.   When my children drool on me, I clean it off immediately.  If they chew on my clothing, I put paper towels underneath that spot so it doesn't touch my skin. When my adorable two year old gives me big wet kisses, I wipe them off as soon as he turns around. Don't get me wrong, I adore his kisses, but they also give me the heeby geebies.

My mother in law gives my kids big wide open mouth kisses, and when they get drool all over her face and mouth, she licks it off.  I'm not kidding. I am getting sick to my stomach even thinking of it.  She is a marvelous woman, one of the loveliest I know, but ew.

I will let my kids eat food that I wouldn't eat.  Not because it's dangerous or anything like that (I follow FDA guidelines for food preparation) but because I can't handle it.  If I drop something on the ground, they can eat it.  If it's cold and it was originally hot, I'll let them eat it.  Basically my husband is my standard, if he'll eat it, they can.  I keep being told germs are good sometimes, so I try to inoculate my children in this way.

I have already shared some of my anti-germ tendencies with my son.  He has to wash his hands when he gets dirt on them.  And he cries if something wet gets on his clothing.
When my adorable one year old drools all down my arm (every hour or so) I have a hand towel ready to clean it off, and sometimes I wash it off.

I am even not a huge fan of french kissing because it involves so much saliva.  Is that TMI?

I try to let my children play in the dirt, but I am bad at it.  They have a bath (or a complete wipe down with baby wipes) before I am comfortable again.

As I read this I realize that I am more than slightly a germaphobe... I suppose admitting it is the first step!

2 comments:

Meg said...

Hahaha. This makes me giggle. I just spent two weeks being covered in baby snot and teething drool simultaneously. My wardrobe may never recover!

Lis said...

It was funny to read your post! I don't do too bad with the germs from the baby- of course wash of poo and snot right away! I'm more worried about washing hands right away when we get home from the store, after petting animals, playing with other kid's toys, kisses from other people. It's nice to know I'm not alone!