So the other day we were talking about belly buttons, Savannah, Ethan and I.
About the shape of ours. Savannah is the only one in the family that doesn't have an innie. Hers is sort of a modified outie. It's quite cute. But different for sure from the rest of us. (Although I can honestly say that in 16 years of marriage, I've never really studied Asia's and I'm not altogether sure what his looks like...)
But I digress.
So we were showing our belly buttons to each other.
And when E. lifted up his shirt, I was mortified to see a deep dark cavern full of ...stuff.
Grey. Fuzzy. Lint.
And lots of it.
It was almost time for school, so we couldn't do anything about it right then. But I promised him that he would be taking a nice long bath that night. And cleaning out the nether regions of that nasty, scary belly button.
He immediately complained "But I don't like touching in there! It feels funny!"
"I know it does. But that's just gross. You're getting it out. Tonight!"
And with that, I sent him out the door to school.
So that evening, we filled up the tub nice and high and added bubble bath. I explained the intricate methodologies involved in cleaning one's belly button. Because obviously, I hadn't done that well detailing those little tidbits of personal hygeine in the past. I armed him with a handful of Q-tips and left him to his digging.
About ten minutes later, I heard him calling me from the bathroom.
I wandered down the hall...
When I opened the door to the bathroom, E. looked up at me with a worried expression. On the side of the tub were three of the largest chunks of belly button gunk I've ever seen, and as if he could read my mind, he asked, his voice trembling just a bit,
"Mom," he eyeballed the little piles on the side of the tub, "are those important parts of my belly button?"
I assured him that they were all parts he could stand to lose, all the while keeping my gag reflex in check. After asking if his belly button was in fact clean, and hearing that there was still more in there but that he 'felt funny' from digging all that out, I gave him a reprieve.
We'll tackle the rest of it during another bath.
Just a word of advice to my Momma friends. When your kids get old enough to bathe themselves, perhaps you should check the status of their navel cavities occasionally.
Live and learn.
About the shape of ours. Savannah is the only one in the family that doesn't have an innie. Hers is sort of a modified outie. It's quite cute. But different for sure from the rest of us. (Although I can honestly say that in 16 years of marriage, I've never really studied Asia's and I'm not altogether sure what his looks like...)
But I digress.
So we were showing our belly buttons to each other.
And when E. lifted up his shirt, I was mortified to see a deep dark cavern full of ...stuff.
Grey. Fuzzy. Lint.
And lots of it.
It was almost time for school, so we couldn't do anything about it right then. But I promised him that he would be taking a nice long bath that night. And cleaning out the nether regions of that nasty, scary belly button.
He immediately complained "But I don't like touching in there! It feels funny!"
"I know it does. But that's just gross. You're getting it out. Tonight!"
And with that, I sent him out the door to school.
So that evening, we filled up the tub nice and high and added bubble bath. I explained the intricate methodologies involved in cleaning one's belly button. Because obviously, I hadn't done that well detailing those little tidbits of personal hygeine in the past. I armed him with a handful of Q-tips and left him to his digging.
About ten minutes later, I heard him calling me from the bathroom.
I wandered down the hall...
When I opened the door to the bathroom, E. looked up at me with a worried expression. On the side of the tub were three of the largest chunks of belly button gunk I've ever seen, and as if he could read my mind, he asked, his voice trembling just a bit,
"Mom," he eyeballed the little piles on the side of the tub, "are those important parts of my belly button?"
I assured him that they were all parts he could stand to lose, all the while keeping my gag reflex in check. After asking if his belly button was in fact clean, and hearing that there was still more in there but that he 'felt funny' from digging all that out, I gave him a reprieve.
We'll tackle the rest of it during another bath.
Just a word of advice to my Momma friends. When your kids get old enough to bathe themselves, perhaps you should check the status of their navel cavities occasionally.
Live and learn.
Oh my, that's a HILARIOUS story!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure it was a good thing that I was eating hummus while reading it, but I digress...
:P
LOL! Oh my.
ReplyDeleteMy friend and I were just talking this morning that we don't really get to *see* our children any more...we used to intimate with every nook and cranny of their bodies..but now, C shows me a rash that has been there for weeks and I feel guilty cause I didn't know it was there!
Now you know I have to check their belly buttons tonight!