Motherhood is beautiful. There are so many moments that I have to pinch myself because the love and support I get from all three kids is unexplainable. But with those precious moments also come the less than ideal moments. You know, the real side of motherhood.
I remember the very first time I had to change a dirty diaper. I was in the hospital having just had Harlan and she made her first bowel movement. Not having ever changed a baby as little as she was, I was immediately frightened I’d hurt her tiny body and disgusted that something so gross could come out of that tiny body.
It only took a couple of changes before her poop no longer phased me. Two more kids and their poop is just another thing I come into contact with on a daily basis. I’ve had it all over my arm (and even face) from diaper blow outs and I haven’t once gagged. There’s so much that the books can prepare you for, but poop on your face? Yeah that’s something you just have to realize that it comes with the territory and know it’s going to happen many, many times, so you might as well get used to it.
As much as I’ve gotten used to my kids’ poop, I haven’t gotten used to the other gross things that they do. Just the other day I found Macks in the bathroom with Avery while she went potty. As soon as she got off of the toilet Macks runs over and sticks his arm right in the toilet. Yep, right there where Avery peed. That was a little much for me.
I’m constantly finding all three of them picking their noses and then wiping them on each other. Avery and Harlan find this a very funny game to play when they are sitting on the couch. They are left in hysterics and I am off in the corner trying not to dry heave.
Or a couple of weeks ago when Macks threw a full on tantrum on the doctor’s office floor because I told him he couldn’t lick the cabinets in the room.
Not to mention the times that Harlan would lick the subway pole when we lived in the city. Or when she’d drop a snack on the ground and pick it up to eat it before I had the chance to catch her. I wanted to take a bar of soap and just scrub her tongue, I was so grossed out.
Motherhood is full of so many gross moments, the ones that no one really prepares you for. It’s nice for others to tell you about the dreamy side of this journey, but what about the real side?
Kinsa, maker of the first smartphone-connected, app-enabled thermometer, knows just how gross kids can be (and what little we as parents can do about it.) No matter how much we try to prevent it, kids are germy… and those germs can lead to our little ones getting sick. When sickness strikes, Kinsa helps by making it simple to track temperature, symptoms, and more for your family and your pediatrician – and by letting you know what’s “going around” your community.
I was first introduced to Kinsa during the Los Angeles Biggest Baby Shower and wished I had it a few weeks later when Avery got really sick. I’d wake her up every couple of hours to take her temperature. I had a logbook of her temperature throughout the week of when she was sick. When I saw the ladies from Kinsa at Mom 2.0 a couple of weeks later I spilled to them how much this thermometer would have been a lifesaver when Avery was sick. Do you know how much easier it would have been to just show my pediatrician the app and be able to email him the log rather than flipping through pages of my notes that looked scribbled because of having to write it down in the dark at 3am?
Next Monday, June 1, I am giving away one Kinsa Thermometer each day for a week to people who upload a photo using the hashtag #kidsaregross. Show me just how gross your little one is by uploading a photo. You can post the photo on my A Mommy in the City Facebook Page or on Instagram using #kidsaregross and tagging @amommyinthecity and @kinsahealthbytes. (All photos must be new and the contest is open to US residents only.)
You also have a chance to enter to win Kinsa’s soon to be released smartphone-connected ear thermometer. Just fill out the form below to be entered to win.
Want to win a second Kinsa thermometer (they make great baby shower gifts)? Follow @Kinsahealthbytes and watch out for their Father’s Day contest for another chance to win.
{Disclosure: This post is brought to you in partnership with Kinsa. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the companies that help make A Mommy in the City possible!}
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