Friday, January 23, 2009

Minty Fresh

By my own admission, I was a germaphobe. Since the munchkin was born, however, that phobia has rapidly downgraded from a full-blown, panic-attach-inducing fear to just a slightly-more-than-average fear of germs. Why the change of heart? Simply because it's impossible to be a germaphobe and have a kid and remain sane. And since I find myself growing increasingly lax day-by-day, I have hope that one day my stomach will not churn when I re-read posts like this: Never say 'never'. But until that day, I refuse to knowingly put a dirty pacifier or teething ring/chew toy back in little C's mouth after he's chucked it onto the ground in a public place (houses where I know the floors are cleaned regularly don't count any more...yes indeed I have grown tremendously :).

As a result, I'm constantly carrying around baggies of 'spares'. Only trouble with spares is, after a while, my mommy-brain forgets which pacis and chew toys are clean and which ones are dirty. Plus, spare space in the diaper bag seems to be shrinking as more necessary spares like extra clothes and diapers and snacks get bigger.

So for the past eight months I've been on a mission. I've been searching the wipe aisles at every baby store, grocery store and drug store trying to find an antibacterial wipe that could be used on pacis and teething rings. Alas, it's all been to no avail because the soapy, germ-killing solutions are not designed for consumption.

Well, I was searching through the One Step Ahead catalog this morning over a (cold) cup of coffee and noticed this interesting new product - a pacifier rinser!


It retails for $6.95 and is just a glorified spray bottle. The catalog description says you fill it with water and (drum roll.....) a few drops of MOUTHWASH! Genius! I'm totally going to buy a cheap plastic spray bottle from the drug store and fill it with the water/mouthwash solution and keep it in the diaper bag.

So next time you see the munchkin his breath will probably be smelling minty fresh :)

2 comments:

Allison said...

genius. I'd totally buy that.

ronee said...

I just happened on your blog..because you and I are both doing the ugly kite blog..anyway..I too was/am a germaphobe. I am SO sure that you and I have the same crazy this and thats...I have three children and with my three children I have let things go..little by little..but most importantly, I have learned that you cannot pass on your germ crazy to your children. My oldest daughter is where I saw it the worst. She is 13 and constantly washes her hands. Never ever ever leaves the house without her mini lysol and hand sanitizer. SO with the next two, I have been trying to be better. The other day at the circus, I even let them ride the ponies without me freaking out. It's a growing process....

BUT the reason I am commenting is that when I started to read your post, the paci rinser popped into my brain. Because like you..I have the same problem...and I too found it in the one step ahead catalog..and am still the proud owner of it. I loved it so much, that I bought three. We would always loose one and I would switch bags.

Good luck with the spray bottle!

sorry I babbled!
xoxo
ronee