Current readers already know I have no pretense on being a perfect mom. Lord knows I try, but I’ve made some very interesting mistakes to say the least. Thankfully kids forgive easily and always give an “A” for effort. They also forget most of their first four years of life so they’ll never remember the new parenthood learning curve.
The first child is a bit overwhelming when reality hits that the fairy-tale of becoming a parent is more than just love. I absolutely believe “LOVE” is the answer to 90% of most problems, but it will not help your sanity, adjust your hormones or keep you from feeling like a failure.
When Anabel was born, I tried to do everything just as I had read or was told by doctor’s and nurses. I’ll have to do a separate post on the inadequacies I felt with labor and nursing. Needless to say, it didn’t go easily or the way I was promised by the masses.
I bought only organic everything with all natural ingredients to not disturb my babies health. I even made all organic baby food myself and froze it. Being the great mom had nothing to do with convenience yet, but the amount of insanity I would willingly endure for my baby.
I look back now and wonder what I did right or wrong in this entire psychotic phase. Anabel is allergic to most everything including highly allergic to the all natural no sugar added peanut butter I gave her when she was old enough to try. She has eczema and her skin is very easily irritated. It’s like the chicken or the egg. Does her body have such a hard time because I tried too hard to protect her? Or if I wouldn’t have, would she have been extra miserable?
As my next babies arrived into the world, convenience easily started to dominate my life for I must have everything as efficient as possible to survive a day. My three kids are only 15 months apart. From oldest to youngest, there are only 30 months. Changes in daily processes quickly were reviewed and altered with each new baby. Bought more instead of making, though I do still try to do dye free and organic whenever possible/feasible. If you are on the fence about organic farming, watch this youtube video.
My girls have really long hair. A detangling spray is a necessity. I tried a few and liked this California Baby brand. I bought it at Target. I used up one bottle and then went to Target to replenished my stock. Typically I buy in bulk because it is just easier to manage the never ending list of groceries and toiletries. Previously I did a post on my terrible allergies and getting allergy shots, so it is no surprise my sense of smell is not fantastic.
Every day, there is time in the morning to comb and fix hair. Roselyn was just an infant so I had a small time frame to only fix Anabel’s hair. She was going to a Montessori school. I like to keep their hair up every day so it doesn’t get as dirty, or available for contact with bugs and limits the amount of tangles. With my new supply, I did notice a little different scent but attributed it to maybe a change in ingredients and didn’t think much about it.
After a few days of using the new detangler, Daniel started complaining about the smell of it. My husband has what I call a super schnoz. He has an exceptional sense of smell. He kept saying, “Tasha, that stuff is awful. It smells like bug spray.” I could detect a hint of citronella, but that is a plant so would fit into the world of all natural ingredients. Eventually, Daniel didn’t believe my response which was “It’s that all natural hair detangler.” and he went to check the bottle.
The shame of this moment still haunts me. Oh, the shame. Complete mortification as he tells me, “Honey, this is not detangler. You’ve been putting organic bug spray in our daughter’s hair.”. In disbelief I double checked the bottle. He was right. OMG, he was right. My 2 year old daughter just getting bug spray soaked into her hair before fixing and going to school. I was humiliated. No recovery from the ammunition this gives my husband to crack jokes for the rest of our lives. Mom fail #55.
In my defense, here is a picture of the brand with the bug spray and detangler side by side. It was an easy mistake pulling them off the shelf. Why were they sitting next to each other in the first place?!?!
During the summer before Anabel started Kindergarten, there was a lice scare at camp. So I researched and ordered some organic no lice repellent hair sprays that were readily available on amazon. I ordered two different varieties to check which I liked best. This was my moment of redemption. Do you know what was one of the main ingredients? YES, citronella! Now for the second time in my life, I am spraying bug spray in my kids hair but this time knowingly. My husband says this doesn’t count as redemption, but it helps me sleep at night. Here’s pictorial evidence of the spray and ingredients.
