Two years ago we caught my then 2-year old daughter slathering herself (and the rug, and the covers, and the bed) with Desitin cream. My resulting distress was recorded in what has become my most popular blog post by far. Apparently, this is not an uncommon problem with 2-year-olds. I’m glad the post has helped others in their quest for cleaning and to help them realize they’re not alone.
Now, it’s 2 years later. My daughter is 4. She learned her lesson that night 2 years ago and hasn’t made a mess with Desitin since then (of course, we learned our lesson as well, and kept it away from her, mostly). It has been awesome to be able to trust her and not deal with this kind of clean-up anymore.
Apparently she’s not over her obsession with greasy substances, however.
Her older sister has had a cold lately and has been blowing her nose a lot. Her nose has gotten pretty raw from all the tissues. It seems to help to rub a little Vaseline on her nose, so we’ve been doing that. The younger one felt left out (sometimes it’s tough being the little sister), so we’ve put a little under her nose, too, from time to time. Harmony has ensued.
Until today.
She had been sent upstairs to take some newly-purchased toilet paper to the bathroom. She was going to come back downstairs to watch TV with me. After a while I wondered where she was, realizing that I hadn’t heard her at all in about 20 minutes. I went upstairs to find her standing in the bathroom with her face, arms, chest, and even one leg covered in Vaseline. There was also some in her long hair. The previously slightly used jar was 3/4 gone. There was a long line of toilet paper hanging off the sink, also covered in Vaseline. The toilet paper left on the roll was obviously unrolled and re-rolled… and the Vaseline fingerprints on it left no doubt as to the culprit.
Under intense questioning she claimed she needed to cover herself in Vaseline because her hands, face, and leg “hurt.”
Did I mention she was still dressed? She put the Vaseline on under her clothes.
I don’t know what it is with this kid and slimy, greasy substances, but I think she’d be very happy to be entered in a greased pig contest — as the pig. Nobody would be able to hang on to her.
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Ohhh, when she is old enough she is going to LOVE Ghostbusters!!!
Lee Sargent recently posted..Snowy from Tintin and the third Doctor Mo Cards
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Jeff says:
November 28th, 2010 at 8:21 pm
Ha ha… I didn’t even think of that! I guess there is an up side!
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Hello,
On your contact me tab, in the “Are You Human” tab it says what is the color of grass. I know the ordinary person would answer green, but you should take into consideration that grass is sometimes yellow so i think you should put that as an answer.
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Jeff says:
December 2nd, 2010 at 5:10 pm
Thanks… I’ll take that under advisement…
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I came to this page via your Desitin anecdote. Since my daughter has had different, but related, issues I have sadly gained some knowledge. It’s called Sensory Integrative Dysfunction, and can be very mild, as in your daughter’s fixation with greasy substances, moderate as in my daughters extreme problems with clothing textures, to extreme which I’ve only heard of anecdotally and would never want to see any child suffer through. Of course I could be wrong and well, you’ve simply got a kid who loves creamy/greasy textures. See if she likes working with wet clay, if she does a pottery wheel might keep her very occupied.
http://www.tsbvi.edu/seehear/fall97/sensory.htm
“Sensory Defensiveness
Sensory defensiveness is a sensory integrative disorder characterized by a “fight, flight, or fright” reaction to sensory information most individuals would consider harmless. Tactile defensiveness, or hyper responsiveness to touch, was identified by Dr. Ayers in the 1960′s. Since that time researchers have recognized defensiveness in other sensory areas as well. The individual who has sensory defensiveness typically has a highly aroused nervous system which prepares the body for survival, but does not recognize that the input is nonthreatening. Behaviors which can be associated with tactile defensiveness are aggressiveness, avoidance, withdrawal, and intolerance of daily routines. Combing or shampooing hair, cutting fingernails, or brushing teeth can be exhausting and difficult for families of children who react defensively with acting out behaviors or tantrums. Other children may cope by being very rigid and demanding with insistence on certain textures of clothing, cutting all tags and labels out of clothing, or displaying extremely limited choices of food because of intolerance to textures. Social skills can be very limited if the child withdraws or picks fights as a result of unexpected touch.”
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