boogers, earwax, and eyelashes

the thing i love about children is they are in so many ways mirrors of their parents. our speech, our bad habits, our unkind behavior, our idiosyncrasies totally rub off on them.

which brings me to boogers, earwax, and eyelashes.

i have a lot of quirks (gross understatement). everyone does, i suppose. but i have a thing for cleanliness. from personal hygiene-type cleanliness to cleaning my microwave and trash can-type cleanliness. and this trait can be evidenced clearly in my son who can vacuum a floor very efficiently, gladly wipes up messes he makes, and loves brushing his teeth and washing his hands.

in terms of hygiene, i always want my kids fingernails clipped, their noses clean, ears free of earwax, and eyeballs not crusty. it's just how it has to be for me. i can't deal with dirt under fingernails or boogery noses. it makes me anxious or something.

so the other morning, as dave an i lay sleepily in bed, young elias jumps all over the place, playing, snuggling, telling us to get "our dress on," (ie, get dressed). piper wakes up (geez, i wonder why) and elias bolts to hop into her crib with her, as always. we stay in bed, listening to the two of them in the monitor, hoping for just five more minutes. two, even.

but in abut one minute, piper is crying.

this is not uncommon. elias is often a bit rowdy.

i call to him and ask why piper is crying, and elias yells back "i'm pickin she's buuuuggers mum!"

my son is picking the boogers out of his little sister's nose.

hahahahahaha.

and how do i tell him not to do that when i do it to the two of them all the time?! eek!

as his mother, i guess i should have seen the signs that his cleanliness obsession would escalate when he was "geddin eyelash out piper's eyeeee" the other day or when he goes digging around in his ears for earwax.

realization:

my son...

is me. in so many scary scary ways.

...it's nice to have a partner to fight hygiene crime, though.

i think we'll make a good booger-picking team.