As a mother of three little kids, I have battles EVERY day.  “Mommy I want to wear this Xmas tshirt to school in April.” “Mommy, I have to wear 3 pair of socks today.”  “Mommy, I need to sleep with this bag of sharpies.”  A couple of these things happened today because I picked my battles.  Yes, L.A. went to school in a holiday tshirt and wearing three pairs of socks but he did not get to go to bed last night with a bag of permanent markers.  You know why?  I pick my battles.  Sometimes it is not worth arguing over something so silly as what the kid wears.  I save all my energy for the big stuff.  Stuff that causes bodily harm or property destruction.  Sometimes my kids look homeless because they are now in the phase where they like to dress themselves and I am totally fine with it.  In fact, I try to encourage it at this point.

Abbott is too little to be battling me about what he wears or what time he goes to bed.  I am still the boss in regards to those items but he is the boss of the toys.  When he sets his mind on something, there is no changing it.  Yesterday was one of those days….and it involved a tampon.  A super plus one at that.

First thing in the morning he got into my purse and found it.  I tried to take it away and he cried.  I decided that he could carry it around, what’s the harm and he will set it down in 5 minutes and move on to something else, right?  Wrong.  So wrong.  He carried it around for about an hour so slowly but surely the wrapper came off.  Jackpot!  When he found out there was more to the new toy than an orange wrapper, he squeeled with delight.  It had a string!  It had two parts that he could take apart and put together…over and over and over again.  No problem, he was being quiet.

Then it happened.  It was time to leave the house.  I couldn’t really let him leave the house with a super plus tampon.  We had errands to run…in public.  I am not one to care what people think at all but I decided a one year old should not be cruising around the Jewel with an unwrapped tampon.  I broke the news to Abbott.  The tampon was staying home.  He did not take it well.  That is actually an understatement.

He was devastated.  Crushed really.  He howled for a good 10 minutes and I tried to give him another toy to distract him.  Not a chance, it was not happening.  He wanted that tampon and he wanted it bad.  Ugh…time to pick my battle for the day.  Do I let him take the tampon?  Well, maybe he will take it to the car and then drop it from his car seat and I will be in the clear.  Ok, fine, you take the tampon but it stays in the car, deal?!?!  He seemed to be on board.

He held on to that thing for dear life and just had this look of contentment on his face.  We got to the grocery store and he had a death grip on the thing.  Fine, you can hold it in the cart, just until we get into the store then Mommy gets it back.  It is a “parking lot tampon” only.  Deal?

No deal.  Not even close.  We got into Jewel and I tried.   He was grasping those 2 pieces of cardboard with every ounce of strength he had.  I could not pry it out of his hot little hands.  What the hell.  Battle lost.  Have your tampon Abs.

So my guy and I cruised around the store with his tampon.  He took it apart and put it together over and over, tapped it on the shopping cart like it was a drum stick, put it in his mouth like it was a sucker.  People stared and I just stared right back.  Yes, my kid has a tampon.  It could be worse right?  It could have been a knife or a sharpie.  At least it was new.

We stopped by a friend’s house and he marched right in clutching that damn thing.  Now it was looking a little ratty.  The cotton is coming out of the tube and it is dirty.  I keep telling myself it is helping with his eye/hand coordination.  He can take that thing apart and put it back together in about 2 seconds.

So yesterday I lost the battle.  The tampon battle.  It won’t be the last either.

Abbott and the Tampon – 1

Mommy – 0

Next up – the maxi pad.