A Mommy Story

There’s a new Tide commercial that I just don’t like. It features a woman with a baby, and the voice over says, “There’s a difference between smelling like a mom, and smelling like a woman.” The ad is for Tide with Febreeze, and seems to say that if you don’t wash your clothes in this stuff, your man won’t want to be around you because you smell like baby spitup. What the hell?

Personally, if I’m going out for a date with my husband, I’m going to wear something I generally don’t wear when I’m with my daughter. At the very least, I’m changing into clean clothes first, and my fragrance-free detergent does a fine job of cleaning my clothes. Besides, I can’t stand the smell of Febreeze – it has a chemical smell to it, I think.

Am I the only one who, upon seeing a family out in public with a toddler having a meltdown, smiles and feels just a little happy and relieved? I mean, I feel for the family, but I like knowing Cordy isn’t the only child who can have a major tantrum at the worst of times. Seeing another child laying on the floor, angry and screaming and thrashing, reminds me that Cordelia is going through a phase that most kids go through, and I’m handling as best I can, just like the other parents I see.

I’m sure most of you have now seen the news about the death of Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter. Aaron told me early this morning, and I’m still feeling very sad about his passing. Even though I would often shake my head in amazement at how crazy he was, getting so close to dangerous animals and risking his life daily, I admired his goals of animals conservation and education.

He said that in order to save animals, we must get to know them and love them, and he’s right. Steve worked hard to teach the public about these endangered animals, so that we could come to know them and hopefully join him in preserving their habitats and lives. One of Cordelia’s favorite DVDs is Wiggly Safari, which is a Wiggles DVD filmed at the Australia Zoo with Steve Irwin and his family. It was one of the first we bought, and she still dances in excitement when I put it on for her.

I wish Steve’s family peace and hope that this tragedy won’t change their goals and their vision to educate children about wildlife. I will miss seeing him on TV, but at least he died doing what he loved.