This is a guest post by Sam Davidson, who is a brand new dad and will be posting here each Friday. He also tries his best to say things that matter at his blog and at Cool People Care.
I assumed that once I had a child, my living room, kitchen, and bathroom would look like Graco threw up everywhere. Apparently to have a baby in America today, you need at least two sets of the venerable triumvirate known as the swing, the bouncer, and the play pen. Mix those in with the few dozen stuffed animals that well-meaning friends give you and suddenly you can’t find your copy of The Dark Knight because a green elephant is hiding it beneath his paws that make rattle noises.
All that I was ready for. What was unexpected was the amount of hand cleaning products I now have in every room in the house.
In the kitchen I have hand soap, hand sanitizer, and hand wipes. Ditto for each bathroom downstairs. Upstairs, where the baby currently sleeps, are three more bottles of hand sanitizer (two in the bedroom and one in the bathroom), another bottle of soap, and a canister of wipes.
Each promises to kill 99.99% of all germs. So what about the 0.01% that will kill my baby?
Before having a child, I was sterotypically male when it came to cleanliness. A shirt could double as a napkin if it was going into the hamper later. No one really looked at the back of toilets (or behind them), so I never cleaned there. And what’s a few crumbs on the floor when you can wear slippers?
But now that my daughter has been home for two weeks, I find myself washing my hands before holding her, after changing her, and every time I wonder, “When was the last time I washed my hands?” It’s not quite OCD, but I at least think Adrian Monk would approve.
Lots of things symbolize new life: birth announcements, diapers, receiving blankets, and stuffed toys. As for me, I’ll remember this period not for its technologically advanced baby entertainment systems, but for its germ fighting gels and lotions. I guess if you’re knee-deep in poop, at least you can be up to your elbows in Purell.
Another unexpected upside: my skin is so soft!
HA! I love it! I did the same thing when we brought home our first baby. I had to put sanitizer in EVERY ROOM because my husband and his family, for some reason, don’t wash their hands very often (my husband is the WORST). But they will use sanitizer, so I even have it at the bathroom sink!
This is one of the reasons I created a product to hang from your baby carrier or stroller – to keep strangers’ germy hands off your baby. I can’t believe how often that happens! Random people just reaching right into your stroller. Ugh.
Glad Marie pointed me over to this post – I can totally relate!
Oh my goodness!! What a great post!! I find it so funny how we get like that. How the sight of a smallbaby makes us think about how germy we are.
Ahh – the first child gets so much “special” care ….while all the ones that follow get to eat crumbs from the floor, suck on binkys that have fallen to the ground or have been “cleaned” by mommy sucking on them first or dipping them into her diet coke to “rinse” them off…..
I am on child #3 and the only time the wipes and purell see the light of day is during potty training when the little ones are learning to wipe their own backsides….
I do that now and don’t even have kids. I can imagine how crazy I’d go with the sanitizer if I did have a baby. I’d need a pool of it I could just dive into, LOL. Great blog!
@ Kristin: I’m not sure if I’ll be equally as careful once we venture out of the home. Or maybe I’ll be more careful. Do you know of a inflatable bubble I could put my daughter in? Seriously though – since we haven’t ventured out of the house yet, I haven’t even thought about strangers’ germs. Looks like I’ll lose some sleep tonight.
@ Upstatemomof3: Small babies make us think about a lot of things – germs included!
@ stacy lyons: I’m not sure how many we’ll have. My two younger sisters (and my wife, who was the 2nd baby) complain that the first baby gets special treatment – more pictures, better toys, more attention. I like to think my parents were just practicing, knowing the next kids would be more of a handful. I, of course, was a perfect baby. :)
@ PJ: Keep apprised of any sanitizer sold in swimming pool quantities. Maybe you and I could go halfsies and just buy Purell (the entire company, I mean).
Fabulous post! Just remember as baby gets older to keep the hand sanitizer out of reach of babies/toddlers that love to put stuff in their mouths. Have you checked out the alcohol content in that stuff? It’s been known to put kids in the hospital with alcohol poisoning!
@ Christina – Great point! I’ve got lots of things that will need baby-proofing when it’s time, so I’ll make sure to keep these well out of reach. Except for me. I’ll still need them.
LOL – this is so perfect for any parent to read! I am a mom of two and we are still germ freaks. I carry it with me me in my purse and we wash our hands a lot at home. I have to say that the problem with this (aside of the little inconveniences) is that we are also killing all of our good bacteria. Yep – found this out and so our kids and I also take Vidazorb chewable probiotics to replenish the beneficial bacteria in order for our bodies to fight off the bad germs. Ah – all the things we think about as parents :)
@ smilinggreenmom – You don’t have to tell me about probiotics. I know quite a bit about them from birthing class. Except for exactly which kind to get – there are about 1400 on the shelves it seems! Perhaps that’s fodder for another post…. Nonetheless, thanks for the reminder about good bacteria!
I’m like Stacy. I’m on my third and the only time the hand sanitizer came out was during potty training, which we just completed…thank you very much!!! The floors are definitely not as glossy as they were with the first. The toys aren’t kept as clean or as organized as they were for the first. The upside: there’s not as much laundry to do with the third one since we don’t change outfits after EVERY SINGLE DRIBBLE! Sometimes I miss those first time parent flutters but then I’m quickly reminded my son will not suffocate when he crams an itty bitty bread crumb up his nose. (Those dissolve unlike marbles and unpopped corn kernels)!
What can I say, peace of mind comes with lessons learned the hard way! Good luck with the new baby!!!
Thanks, Jenn! I’m learning that 4 clothing changes in a day quickly escalates one’s utility bill. Perhaps I’ll digest all of that in a future post. And, I’m looking forward to the days when she sticks things up her nose – I’ll call you for advice! :)