Paranoid Learning

(As I wait to hear from the hospital as to when I can go in to get labor induced, I figure I should try to write one last post completely centered around the little girl)

"Stop, Daddy. That's Dangerous."

In his attempts to get Julia to appreciate juvenille male humor, Wayne is jokingly putting fingers up his nose. Wayne laughs, and respectfully obliges Julia's instruction.

"Now go wash your hands daddy."

Julia has been preoccupied with germs and cleanliness for the past month. I think they did some lessons at school and we happened to find what we thought was a cute book from the library, "Germs," about a little germ named Pox, who doesn't like to infect kids like all the other bad germs. Pox helps a little girl's immune system thwart the evil intentions of other bad germs and becomes a celebrated hero. Julia is quite enamored of him. But she is currently very concerned about washing her hands (which is a great thing, I know!) so that she doesn't get a rash. She will ask you before and after you go to the bathroom whether you washed your hands.

In the procrastination period after bedtime stories, but before she falls asleep, Julia talks about sickness. How she doesn't want anyone to get sick. What happened to the Strep germ that infected her uncle? Her belief that Uncle Eddie got better after eating the Ginger Snap cookies that she made with her daddy. Her concern that her cough will never go away without medicine. Why won't we give her medicine? The latest escapades of her immune system (the Germs books cutely depicts your immune system as a miniature armored army of little yous).

We all helped create Julia's paranoia with our explanations of why we get sick, why we wash our hands, etc. I wonder if you can instruct without creating these obsessions. But I'm reminded of all that gets lost in translation when you communicate with a child. I remember forgoing cereals for probably 2 years after watching some health video in second grade. I don't know what that video was really about, but I remember it showing microscopic bugs that eat cereal. I was horrified at the thought of eating those bugs when eating cereal. I'm pretty sure I never explained this to my parents - I just told them I didn't want cereal.

I'm not too worried about raising an OCD kid - I've already seen her outgrow some obsessive behaviors, like needing every door to every room closed at all times. But I'm just reminded to try and be a little careful with how we explain things.