Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Cradle Crap

For weeks, I've been watching the slow and adorable progression of freckles on the babies' heads. Like any proud mother, I began to gushingly point out these adorable little freckles to just about anyone who so much as glanced in the direction of my babies.

Spending a recent afternoon with my mother, I couldn't wait to show her the babies' newly speckled heads. She looked at the freckles. She looked at me.

"April. That's cradle crap."

Cradle crap? Excuse me, older, wiser, more experienced woman who raised me. I believe the term is cradle cap. And crap or cap, those freckles are neither.

I told her as much. She responded with an offer to demonstrate the removal of one of the specks in question.

"NO WAY!" I snapped. "Get your picking fingers away from my baby's head! You're going to tear off his adorable freckles! You're going to make him bleed!"

She shrugged. We moved on.

Later, in the privacy of my own home, with one of the babies peacefully perched on my lap for a snuggly little snooze, I decided to do a little investigating of my own. Because really, the nerve of calling those adorable little freckles by any other name.

I gave a tentative little scratch with my fingernail.

The freckle easily peeled away.

No blood.

Cradle crap. Stickey, flakey, non adorable cradle cap crap.

Sheepish. Me.

8 comments:

Sarah F. said...

That is so funny I did the same thing with Caleb! It was my Mother too that broke the news to me that it was not freckles but cradle cap! I just use a little comb now when I give him a bath and it seems to help.

Amy Hanson said...

oh, I think Sophie is starting to get it too. . . maybe you can check it out and see. What are you going to do? I think Nina said olive oil and a tooth brush, can't remember. I just kept hoping she wouldn't get it.

halalamama said...

My son had it bad and eventually lost his copious hair along with it, in huge chunks. I put baby oil on his head, let it sit and soak, then brushed him well and gave him a bath. It helped keep it manageable and it cleared up within about a month.

Anonymous said...

I used Vaseline. It removed it with a damp wash cloth. Of course bathing the head was necessary afterward.

Ursula

Parsing Nonsense said...

If your mom's anything like my mom, she just thinks you're funny for thinking you're right. I hate those egg-on-your-face moments when you realize you've stuck your foot in it, but oh well. Sorry you get to deal with cradle crud.

Anonymous said...

Cradle Crap...definitely a more fitting name! Lennon has a touch of it too!

Daryl said...

WHAT are you putting on their heads? I thought CC came from sugar water mothers of my mothers generation put on baby's hair to make it curl .. get some Keihl's baby sunblock

bess said...

Gross huh? Once I rubbed lots of baby oil, to comb out the flakies. It didn't all wash out for at least a week and she looked like a cast member of Grease. With dandruf.