Since the arrival of my children in my life, I have drastically changed my opinion of what is and is not considered edible material. I was prepared for the fact that children put everything in their mouth. Therefore, with a mind towards impending motherhood, I started clearing things out of reachable level, putting the office supplies safely into drawers and thinking of a safe spot for the litter box.
With my first born, I was going through the usual amount of germ phobia that comes with the birth of a first baby. This quickly went out the window one day during an encounter with a neighbor's dog. Our neighbor at the time had a huge dog. Friendly dog. Great with babies. Huge. Every time my boy saw this dog he lit up like it was Christmas morning. One day we're standing in the street chatting and my boy is drooling over the dog yet again. (This may have been literally as he was cutting some teeth at the time.) The dog, being just as glad to see baby, starts licking him all over the face and hands. I couldn't help but cringe inwardly ever-so-slightly, but in the back of my mind I was thinking "that's okay. I'll clean him up once we get into the house." This was not to be. Next thing I see is my son popping hands into mouth. Ugh. However, the fun doesn't stop there. At this point, my boy spits up all over the ground. Which prompts the dog to lean over, lick up the ground and go back to licking my child. After that display, I lost a lot of my germ phobia.
During subsequent growth moments (more my husband and I versus our child, mind you) we saw him stick any number of questionable objects in his mouth. One day it was an old popsicle stick, which I could not help thinking how long it had been there and how many dogs had peed on it in the interim. There was the usual selection of rocks, leaves and sticks that are part of a young boy's life. And, the crowning touch in our humble opinion, was the day he stuck a snail in his mouth. Yes, the French may consider this a delicacy, but I believe they usually consume theirs cooked with some butter and garlic sauce. Vive la escargot!
Subsequent children have broadened the spectrum even further. Eventually someone did discover the litter box. There have been some not so grand moments while trying to change a diaper. French fries dug out of the car seat from ghosts of fast food meals past. Not to mention the actual kiddie's meal which I will spare you all my opinion on consuming one in the first place. Fresh or not. We will skip discussing the surprises they dig out of their noses. Just because that finger fits perfectly in that nostril does not mean it belongs there.
The tolerance level for what is considered okay and what is not has broadened with each child. Although I don't think I will ever consider the kitty box okay nor the search through the diaper. But I'm a little less freaked out when other organic matter finds its way into my child's mouth. For example, we went to the falls yesterday and my daughter insisted on picking up handfuls of dirt and putting them in her mouth. She would spit it out, I would wash out her mouth with water and she would repeat the process. Realistically, the water probably had more germs than the dirt she was putting in her mouth. In the end, I just shrugged my shoulders, then moved her to a new patch of ground.
You're probably wondering where my husband and I are during these moments of youthful exploration. Sometimes we're there and don't move fast enough. Sometimes we've turned our back for that critical split second. Sometimes we are occupied with another child. Sometimes we've decided that this is just not the battle we're going to fight. I'm sure somewhere in there they're building up their immune system. Hopefully we're catching the critical ones.
A couple of days ago, our family decided to visit a local fast food joint. (See previous comment about fast food fare.) While we were there, my son dropped his corn dog on the ground. My husband confiscated the corn dog, insisting it had to go in the trash. All I could think was "really? This you're worried about?" Go figure.
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