Toddler Talons

Hi Friends,

Yesterday was K's bi-weekly (read: I'm not really sure of how many weeks have passed, but playful nose-grabs were drawing blood) grooming session.

Everytime I ready myself to complete this task, I pause to think about how as an extremely pregnant, emotionally charged, erratically nesting, mum-to-be, one of the two things I was obsessively worried about was clipping baby's finger nails (the other was knowing when to change a diaper... hahah seriously past me?!). I'm not really sure why pre-baby me honed in on nail care of all things, but I was so incredibly anxious about this, like losing sleep (precious, pre-baby sleep) over nail clipping.

Despite this crippling anxiety, the role of tiny person manicurist became mine and mine alone in April 2013 when an unfortunate tip nip incident and resultant baby tears left D emotionally scarred for life. While I'd like to say I eagerly accepted the job (as any confident new mum would do) it was only after a hopeful Google search revealled that there are no [reputable] places that you can take your newborn to get his talons groomed (someone should really start this, I think it would be a goldmine!).

I managed to keep K's talons in check with relative ease for the first year of his life, in fact, months 0-12 had me feeling like some sort of nail-clipping ninja (I had mastered nail clipping while nursing my unsuspecting infant). However, this job has become increasingly more difficult as he's entered into toddlerhood. The last few months have seen me resort to making my move when K is strapped into his high chair. I strategically splay his favourite foods across his snack tray (which doubles as a shield for those wiggly toes), and pray that he doesn't see the clippers before I get to work (as he will insist on playing with them, and do everything in his power to get them into his death grip).

Yesterday was the first day that I wasn't able to groom all 10 fingers and 10 toes. I tried unsuccessfully for 15 minutes to get the last 3 fingers (well, 2 thumbs and an index finger), but with the cheesies no longer sufficiently distracting, I had little left to leverage. Upon throwing in the towel (or better, the nail clippers on the snack tray), my first thought was "what kind of mum am I if I can't even properly groom my little man?". It wasn't until I looked up at my giggling little person, that I realized he was pretend clipping those last few nails (obviously unsuccessfully, but trying nonetheless). I quickly answered my question, "I'm the kind of mum who's unknowingly teaching her tiny person to be excited about grooming himself!". It made me smile to see K learning from me. Although his refusal of my help left those 3 ungroomed fingers menacing to my poor nose (and small land animals), it displayed an air of confidence in K that I absolutely love to see. So while I may have only scored 85% on the task at hand, I was 100% proud of my little man.

Until next time my friends,

-A

Eek! Watch those talons!