Branching Out

Weston has always been a kid who has decided when he was ready for something and then just did it: eating real food, sleeping in his own bed, giving up the boob, giving up his binky and potty training (not necessarily in that order).

We fretted and worried and tried various techniques to accomplish these things, all to no avail. When he was ready, he just..... did. For the most part, we have given up trying to cajole him into anything and let him do what suits him.

This has proved to be a super effective method for us, but best of all it requires absolutely no effort. It's so easy that I'm thinking of writing a parenting advice book, but I can't get past the opening sentence: Just let your kids do whatever they want whenever they want and reap the effortless rewards! I really need some filler- it seems like all the most successful parenting books are really thick and heavy. It's going to be called 'Parenting Advice from Korea'. You would totally buy it, right?

Anyway, he has decided to begin taking care of all his personal grooming needs. In general, I'm all for him doing things for himself because it's much less work for me, but I'm getting a little scared. He has always hated having his hair washed and he loathes any activity that carries the slightest risk of a teeny-tiny drop of water splashing his face. Last night, he yelled to us from the tub to come look, he had washed his own hair. And indeed he had. He had wet the top of his head somehow and slopped a good-sized glop of baby wash on there. Unfortunately he had neglected to rinse it off, and he resisted our delicate efforts to convince him that we needed to 'help' him finish the job. We didn't want to discourage him from from washing his hair in the future so we just let him go to bed with goo on his head. I MEANT to go in after he was asleep and wash it off with a wet cloth, but I had a glass or two of wine, and you know how that goes.

The next day, he came out of the bathroom reeking of a chemical smell. The scent was familiar and not completely unpleasant, but I couldn't quite place it. I was getting pretty alarmed trying to figure out what he'd gotten into until he waved his hands in my face and I realized he had covered his fingernails, fingers, toenails, toes and the bathroom floor with light blue nail polish. It looks pretty good but he's going to have to get a little neater and rinse his head if he wants to make the book cover.