ninanevermore

Today on my drive into work, I was thinking about how becoming a parent almost 2 years ago has changed me, in that I accept things that I would never have accepted at any other point in my life. This weekend, I accepted a booger that was handed to me. Not only did I accept it, I said "Thank you" when I took it, as if this were the kind of desirable thing that people hand to me all the time.

"I traded it for a box of apple juice," I told Jeff a few minutes later, after getting rid of the sticky gift and washing my hands. "This was not a trade up for me."

"That was nice of you," he said.

"Wasn't it though? He was chewing on the booger and then he saw the apple juice, so he handed me what he had in his mouth so he could drink the juice. And I didn't just take it, I thanked him for it."

Jeff looked thoughtful. "I wonder if it was a good booger?"

"Obviously it wasn't as good as apple juice."

"Apparently not."

"I guess this means I'm a mom now," I said, shaking my head. "It's official. If someone had tried to hand me a booger before, I wouldn't have taken it. I would have moved away from them and maybe tripped over my feet trying to run in the other direction."

"I don't think he meant anything by it."

"No, it just got me to thinking about how children put a new perspective on everything."

"Tell me about it," he said, "Getting peed on doesn't at all have the same meaning it used to..."

I looked my husband in the face and sighed. Our marriage is based on honesty, and sometimes this forces me to state the obvious.

"You're a sick man. You know that, right?"

Hearing this from a woman who just traded a booger for a box of apple juice must have struck him as ironic, because he laughed.

I don't want anyone reading this to get the idea that I am willing to accept a booger from just anyone. This was a special booger from a special person. If I ever meet any of you on the street, please don't try to hand me any treasures you find in your nose. I will not accept them, and I won't thank you. I will probably move away from you, and maybe trip over my feet as I try to run and get away.