The New ‘White Glove’

Nothing… not even the notorious white glove… lets you know how, um, messy?  Un-kept? your house is until you have a crawling baby.  Suddenly, you’re on a mad-dash to pick up everything and that just makes you realize just how much there actually is to pick up.  Because everything is fair game in this baby’s book… the socks Daddy took off last night and left by the couch.  The crispy, dried spaghetti noodle that fell from big brother’s fork last night at dinner.  The (thankfully unplugged) hairdryer cord that dangles from Mama’s bathroom counter.  Whatever he can crawl to, is fair game to go into the mouth. 

Since Kaden started crawling I have fished so many unfortunate things out of his mouth, that I don’t even know where to begin.  Earplugs, leggos, wrappers, lint, food crumbles, playdough (new/soft and old/hard), fir needles, paper (lots and lots of paper), toy car wheels, rocks, grass … the list goes on and on.  And surprisingly, I’ve only noticed that one thing actually got swallowed… and that was a piece of pea-gravel.   In addition to what his sticky little fingers find to put into his mouth, there is all the stuff around the house he his having to maneuver around and over – another indication that our house is cluttered. I find him high-centered while attempting to crawl over mounds of toys.  I find him pinned in a corner because he can’t find his way around all the baby this’s and that’s.  I find him stuck under chairs because, well, he gets himself stuck.  That’s kind of his own fault.    

I need to go through this house, on my hands and knees, and clean.  Because if it is there on the floor, this boy will find it.  Clear plastic wrapper or not. 

And I know, these pictures don’t seemingly have anything to do with this subject matter… but on the contrary. 

After taking them, I realized just how dusty my hardwood floor was… Kaden’s green knees were then grey.  Oiy.