August 17, 2004
Public Toys = Good Germs
filed under: DadditudesSo as a parent, you get used to the sliding scale of grossness. If, say, your son happens to love going to the Tot Lot, pulling himself up on the rusted, painted, fading, stepped-on railings and immediately fastening his mouth on them, tongue-first, like a lamprey... well, the first couple times you go "Ew, buddy, that's gross, don't suck on that," and then after a while it becomes clear that you're either going to have to let it go, or become one of Those Parents.
Those Parents are the ones who attempt to control every little thing in their child's life. You can tell you're one of Those Parents by a number of signs: at a birthday party, you won't let your kid have even a bite of cake because it's processed sugar and "oh, we don't let him have any processed sugar..."; on the playground, when another child impinges on your child's "space," you take your child by the hand and say, in a mock-cheerful manner, "come on, honey, let's go over here where the other children aren't so... boisterous..."; your child suffers no mental or developmental disorders but you still have them on a leash or in a helmet (oh I'm sorry, I mean "tether" or "bumper bonnet").
If your child looks like this:
...then you may be one of Those Parents.
So obviously we try not to be Those Parents. We try to roll with the punches, and make sure that Max is safe but not stifled.
So, when he goes to the Children's Museum play area and wants to suck for hours on toys that dozens or hundreds of other children have sucked on, we shrug and let him.
Then two days later he wakes up with a wicked cold and snot flowing freely down his face.
Maybe Those Parents are onto something...
Posted by rjt at August 17, 2004 03:11 PM