When that tiny, beautiful, first child was born…my instincts to protect, love, and disinfect went into overdrive. When The Boy was born, I stocked up on antibacterial soaps and bleach as if I was going to clean up after countless brutal murders. I childproofed everything; table corner pads, gates, outlet covers, you name it. I diligently bleached his toys once a week, vacuumed one thousand times per day and wiped his hands more times than I can count.
When heading out; shoes, hat, coat, diaper bag, extra everything, super duper safe car seat…check! We had it all. Always made sure to check my mirrors, drive the speed limit, turned the cell phone off, etc. There was no way I was going to let anything hurt my baby! So, does this mean that I love the second child less? I’m beginning to think so.
Fast Forward five years later and The Girl, our second (and last!), is now two. Love her to pieces, would step in front of a moving bus for her; but, I’m pretty sure I’ve NEVER washed her toys! There are almost no safeguards around the house; outlets are exposed here and there, corner pads are long gone, the only remnants of the once safest place on earth are a gate at the top of our stairs.
She constantly has some form of stickiness around her mouth from whatever lollipop she has just eaten, or from the syrup at breakfast. I am constantly banging her head on the car door frame on the way into the car seat…and am pretty sure there is permanent damage going on as her ABC’s go like this, “A..B..1…7…E and 4.” (I just keep petting her hair and telling her she’s pretty.) There are days when she goes out in PJ’s and slippers, and I have no diaper bag, or diapers! The other day, she rode home on the floor of the car because she pooped and wouldn’t sit back down; and, of course, I had no diapers. If that would’ve been The First child, I would’ve never left the house without the arsenal of baby products. And if I had, I would’ve fashioned a diaper from the shirt off my back.
What changed?
Did we get lazier as the second child got older, or just practical? I say, a little of both. I know now that some germs are good, a child must be encouraged to explore their surroundings, including exposed outlets, and when do we really utilize the whole alphabet? The Girl is doing just fine; not, “I’m going to be a rocket scientist fine”, but fine nonetheless.
