So Blue

Motherhood is a sorority. I assume Fatherhood is a fraternity in the same way. I have seen the way my husband bonds with other dads in a cool and sexy, "hey, look at us, we're cool dads" kinda way.

As members of this motherhood sorority I expect certain privileges such as some level of camaraderie, loyalty and tolerance. Am I completely naive? (Probably.) And if I can't get THAT, at least there should be an unwritten rule that goes something like "Thou shalt not sabotage another mother." Is that asking too much?

The reason I'm even thinking about all this is because my kids are blue. Not emotionally. Literally blue.

Let me flash back to being at Wal-Mart. There I was with the brilliant notion that what my kids really needed was a sandbox. Nothing elaborate -- just a cheap $10 pool and some sand. I wasn't sure it would go well because Tristan was a big sand-eater last year. You'd think that after the first handful of sand he'd lose interest in eating it, but not that boy.

So I get the little pool all picked out and as I'm looking around for the sand I run across this other mom who sees what I'm doing and she says, "You should get the blue sand. It's really cool." She said it wasn't that much more expensive than the regular sand and the kids just love it.

And she was right. It was pretty cheap and the kids loved it. What she neglected to mention, or possibly in a more sinister way purposely avoided telling another member of the Motherhood Sorority is that blue sand turns kids blue. Blue. Lady, wherever you are there is lice or bubblegum hair in your future. I'm certain that the karmic wheel turns 24/7 and your home address just got pinned to it. (Unless, of course, having blue kids is karmic payback for me... but surely not!)

Now what I'm wondering... is it bad to use an S.O.S. pad on your kids? There's nothing on the label that says you shouldn't and, see... well, my mom is still out of town so I don't have anyone else to ask.