DC Metro Moms

It's Okay To Swim In The Slow Lane

I’ve been a parent for approximately 2 ½ years now and every couple of weeks I seem to encounter a new parenting challenge, road block, rite of passage – whatever you’d like to call it – that forces me to make a decision about my child’s life.

This week’s special: to advance or not advance the kid into the next level of swimming class. I know, I know, this is BIG TIME life changing material for my son. Pretty much just as important as choosing a preschool or bringing him to the doctor. But it gave me a sneak peek at some of the more important decisions my husband and I will have to make as parents in the future—for example, whether we’ll ever have to hold him back a grade in school.

Be Careful of the Chipmunk in Your Nose!

I said something evil to my 2 ½ year old. It was unintentional, but nevertheless it was not a very nice thing to do. I was just so tired of and grossed out by watching him pick his nose – and yes, eat it. He even had sores and blood scabs under his nose from all of the digging. I know this is a phase for most kids, so I thought I would just ride it out. But then I started thinking, is this going to last another few months? Years? Will he be 22 picking his nose and eating it during his first job interview?

So, one day while we were walking home from the park I could see out of the corner of my eye his chubby little finger shoved up one nostril, and I said, “Watch out for the chipmunk in your nose”. He paused. He looked up at me very confused with finger still lodged in nose. “Huh?” he said. I went on to explain that sometimes there are chipmunks in our nose that nibble on our fingers if we stick them up far enough. And I went further to say that the reason we sneeze is because chipmunks tickle our nose. As he heard all of this, his finger slowly slid out of his nose and he placed his hand neatly in his lap. He sat in the stroller with a dazed look, completely silent the rest of the way home.