When I was younger, my mom would periodically use the clip side of a brown star-shaped hair barrette to scrape away at the caked on earwax in mine and my sibling's ears. Gross, I know. But had you'd taken a peek at the buildup for yourself, you would have swiftly done the same. It didn't hurt exactly, however I can't truthfully tell you that I looked forward to the experience. But to this day, I get shivers down my spine along with an uncontrollable urge to clean out my ears when, during visits home, I find that star-shaped barrette laying in a bathroom drawer.
Fast forward twenty-some-odd years to today where I'm lying on the couch reading my book when Garrett walks up to share with me what he is reading. Because I'm mostly horizontal, I am given a clear view directly into his grimy little ear canal. Crusty leftovers from recent shampoos. Lint from a blanket he snuggles with. Mac 'n' Cheese from yesterday's lunch. And let's not even mention the actual earwax.
Suddenly I found myself wishing that the dreaded star-shaped barrette was more accessible.
I'm sure that, at this point, you might not believe me if I told you that I really do bathe my child. Frequently, even. But here's the thing: no longer is Garrett a willing participate in the ritual we call washing. He writhes and screams when I shampoo his hair and dodges me while scrambling to the other side of the tub when I attempt to soap up his body. Which, as I'm sure you can imagine, makes ear washing a bit of a challenge.
Today, though, after being completely grossed out by the state of his inner and outer ears, I determined to take matters into my own hands, and I wasn't going to take writhes, screams, or dodges as an answer. I grabbed a warm, wet washcloth, pinned the boy down, and went to work.
All told, the deep cleaning only took a minute or two. (Garrett, though, I'm sure, would like to tell you otherwise.) But at least now they're clean, which is a very good thing considering that it is my lap he'll be sitting on, with his toddler-sized ears directly in view, during tomorrow's flight to Texas.
7 comments:
One time while I was getting my hair done, all the stylists were talking about cleaning their baby's ears out with bobby pins--I'm sure it's the same concept. I can't say that I wouldn't go to the same measures to have a baby with clean ears. By the way--I just saw your mom at Deseret Book in Provo! She looked great in her Municie, Indiana sweatshirt. Have a great time in Texas!
I just use a q-tip, right after a bath when stuff in the ears is still fairly damp. My daughter unfortunately has extra wax and small ear canals and we periodically have to have the doctor use high-pressure water to clean out impacted wax inside her ears. Not fun!
I'm always impressed by the sheer amount of stuff that is found in my kid's ears. It's disgusting to say the least! He loves to use Q-tips, and although he doesn't clean his inner ear, he does a pretty good job of getting the outer crusties taken care of. Have a great time in Texas!
Funny the things that still impact your feelings decades later. :) Bobby pins do work quite well for the stuff that you can't get with a Qtip.
Random: I had tubes in my ears when I was a tiny baby, and my left ear is still a bit sensitive from all the ear infections. If I stick a Q-tip in too far in that ear, it makes me cough.
You are hilarious!
I'm an obsessive ear cleaner, and my husband is of the philosophy that you shouldn't stick things in your ears (yeah, ear doctors have the same philosophy, but I just hate wax). Sometimes when I notice the wax making its way to the outer ear, I make him let me clean them out. Luckily the only thing in them is wax though!
Ew. Gross. I'd happily forgotten that memory, but I do haveta say that you did a perfect job of explaining it. That was a pretty special hair clip. :)
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