Manly Men

     So, today whilst doing really important things such as checking my facebook, obsessing over my obsession with One Tree Hill, and making lists so I can check things off, I suddenly tuned back into reality.  Ummm, and I mean the reality where I was the one "responsible" adult around the house who was supposed to be aware of people under 3 ft. and what they were doing and putting in their mouths.  My more dependable other half was gone helping friends move furniture and I was left to my own devices at home alone.


     The moment I tuned back in and realized I was not a 21 yr. old college student sitting in her dorm room eating pizza while watching marathons of Friends, not a care in the world, was when I heard a strange noise....a noise like a cap being taken off something and a slight suction sound.  As I was snapping back into focus, my subconscious kicked in, reminding that I had been hearing that sound the last 20 or so minutes on a fairly routine basis as my 2 yr. old had trotted back and forth from our bathroom.  It suddenly became apparent to me there were several exciting things he could be doing in the bathroom while I tended to my Peyton and Lucas dilemma.

      Curious to know the culprit calling his little white- haired self into the bathroom over and over again, I got up to investigate.  This is the moment I noticed my son had a strong inclination to good hygiene.  Pride overcame me as I watched what he was grabbing for in the drawer.  My son, my manly little boy, wisdom beyond his years...I was so proud.  Oh that is soooo cute. He had probably seen his daddy or me for that matter, putting it on.   He is growing up so fast.  I mean look at all they pick up and learn from just observing and listening. All these thoughts raced through my head in the millisecond it took me to realize he was not wearing the deodorant the way most do, the way one should.  As he grabbed my husband's deodorant, quickly taking off the lid (enter suction sound) he deftly with the ease and carelessness of one who knows what he is doing.... proceeded to lather up his lips.  I watched as he smeared it around and around as you would wear your chapstick.  He then turned the dial back down, replaced the lid very efficiently, set it back in said drawer, and shut it.  And with that, he was out of the bathroom and back to playing.  Nothing to see here folks....show's over, all in a day's work.


     Immediately and involuntarily, my mind started doing overtime.  Unbeknownst to me, it started cataloguing submerged memories from not only the previous 20 minutes, but the previous week, as it started occurring to me my sweet 2 yr. old had been smelling fairly manly all week.  I began backtracking subconsciously, only to find myself back to Tuesday when we had gone to Target and I had thought he really smelled like his father.  My how grown up you are, I remembered thinking as I put him in the shopping cart catching a whiff of something like aftershave, or as in this case apparently, men's deodorant, moonlighting as chapstick.  Sure enough, deep in my nostalgia of yesterweek, in comes my manly little man to grab his umpteenth coat of "chapstick," for the day.  Instead of perhaps calling poison control, or at least checking to see if any had been ingested, as one might,  I continued to watch once more.  He uses a very serious amount of lip protection I tell ya.  I was dying with laughter and scooped up my manly man and kissed him on his sweat -protected, moisturized, cologne-smelling mouth. 


     And for all those wondering, I did allow him to put his chapstick on his armpits.