Today I was making lunch and Henry was playing in the living room. He ran into the kitchen excitedly and exclaimed, "look at my sock!". He had pulled it off and was thrilled with himself. So I grabbed his little toes and said something like "look at these guys!" to which he replied, "look at my toenails! Let's clip 'em, maybe?" Do most kids love having their nails clipped? Because Henry just loves it. He watches in amazement while Patrick clips them. And now he asks for them to be clipped for something fun to do. That made me laugh.
Note the part where I wrote while Patrick clips them. Here's a confession: I have never once in Henry's lifetime clipped his nails. It all started out as a huge fear of mine when he was such a teeny tiny baby. Even with the fancy clippers that came in the baby care kit that we registered for I was so afraid that I would clip too far and hurt his little fingers and toes. Yes, even with clippers that included a swing out magnifying glass I was absolutely terrified to do it. Double confession: I still have not clipped William's nails either. It's almost like not doing it for the past 2 1/2 years has made my fears even greater. So for now, Patrick's remains the designated clipper.
5 comments:
My husband has the same fear - He'll clip the dog's nails 'til the cows come home (which I cannot do for fear of cutting too much and her bleeding out through her toenail) but he cannot do the kids' nails!!
I wonder if there's a clinical term for that phobia?
This cracked me up. I'm surprised that your boy enjoys this. Nathan doesn't like it, and he only occasionally willingly lets me do it.
I wasn't too afraid of clipping their little newborn fingers, but on a couple occasions (with both babies, unfortunately) I clipped a little too far or slipped with the tiny, wiggly fingers, and made them bleed. You'd think I'd learn my lesson... either they bleed from scratches on their face or from a difficult to clip nail... I did use a file on Blake more for that reason, but it didn't always get the sharp parts. Tim never wanted to do it- he was more worried than I was! Yay for Patrick to the rescue!
Too funny...Kaylee has finally gotten to the point that she will let me do her fingernails but I have to literally hold her down for her toes! Partly because her feet are so ticklish. So I do her fingers once a week, they seem to grow fast, plus I read somewhere it helps to eliminate some germs that get in their. But her toes are only done about once a month when they are looking so gross! Good for Henry!
that is so funny...I've always done the clipping and I did actually hurt james once. But it helped me get over the fear because he was fine - even though I did draw blood and didn't cut the rest of his nails for a month or so (he had like 3 nails normal and the rest really long!). I found that the easiest way to clip them is to do it from the angle that you would clip your own. and pull the finger pad down away from the nail...if you up to trying yourself and facing that fear, that is...
This is so funny because the other day I was thinking how I really had never clipped Gabe's toes and wondering how other moms do it. He just gets so ticklish that he just can't keep his feet still. Nails are not a problem (I can do those now, but Dan also did our boys as infants), but the toes are another story. I think sometimes they just peel off, but I may have to get some of them in his sleep!
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