Tuesday, March 22, 2011

How to get a child to wash their hands

Little Mother is grubby.  She loves purses, accessorizing, brand name clothes, beautiful fabrics and style, but she is a little dirt ball.  Because she sucks her sticky dirty thumb, she is usually the first to bring an illness for all of us to share and enjoy.

I had the after school snack ready to go in 3 Styrofoam bowls.  The timer was set for 8 minutes to bring focus to little ones who want to snack till dinner time.  "Oh we've GOT to wash our hands.  Have you washed your hands Sunshine?"  They proceeded into the bathroom as I watched in amazement.  "Have you heard of tapeworms?"  she quietly asked her sister.  "They are THIS big and LIVE in your intestines!  I learned about them in school today.  This guy keeps a whole bunch of them in a bottle and brought them in."  They scrubbed under their fingernails and up their arms.

As Briz and I recapped our day with our little ones, sharing the experiences the other had missed, he shared some funnies with Little Mother.  As they drove home from soccer practice, she asked him if a tapeworm could kill a person.  He explained that first you'd get skinny then the doctors would find it... etc. etc.  He had more insight into her question a few hours later.  Little Mother had pulled an abdominal muscle during last week during soccer practice.  It takes a bit of time to heal.  As the house quieted, she crept downstairs and in horror confided, "My stomach hurts in a long line.  I think I have a tapeworm."   He felt the damaged muscle and quieted her fears but noted that she went back up and gave her body another good scrub.  

I for one go on record as fully supporting the study and examination of tapeworms.  I look forward to a healthier new year.  Please accept this humble post as my contribution to the cleanliness of children everywhere.  Love You!!!

2 comments:

  1. Oh man, this reminds me of our conversations about "bichos." Mischievous, nasty, make us very sick and runny nosed, tiny, itty-bitty, invading "bichos!" Enoch's "bichos" are blue he says... Amaya's are pink, Hyrums are green, and Redik's are white. They can not share each others' "bichos." They each keep their own "bichos" to themselves and don't share sloppy kisses when they have them. Fun stuff!

    Isa

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  2. OH GROSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! to both of you!!
    Midodi, those pictures sure do make me hungry!! I remember learning in my health class in 8th grade that every minute, 30-40,000 dead skin cells fall from your body, and that there are more living organisms on the skin of a single human being than there are human beings on the surface of the earth. uuuuuuuuuuugggggghh . . . I'm feeling a bit queezy!!
    And dear Isa, whatever these "bichos" are . . . NOT fun stuff!
    but as I was saying about my 8th gr health experience, I remember going home and scrubbing! scrubbing me and my room and putting my sheets in the washer.
    o.K. because of you I've been looking at images and reading about all the gross things like dead skin, tapeworm, the longest fingernails. did you know she lives in Utah? . . . go to this link:
    http://www.dvorak.org/blog/2006/08/15/guinness-worlds-record-33-inch-long-fingernails/
    ewwwww! I need a shower and a manicure!

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