The other night we were visiting with a friend during dinner at his house, when my eight year old son jumped into the conversation and called our 39 year old friend by his first name.  It was something along the lines of, “Sure, Chad.”

Although we allow the kids to call our oldest friends by their first name, we have a rule that most people go by Mr. or Mrs. followed by their last name.  It keeps things easy and consistent.

My husband quickly corrected our boy and said, “You need to address adults as Mr. or Mrs., buddy.  It shows respect.”

And, as our son turned to leave the room he rolled his eyes at his dad, let out a big sigh and said, “Whatever, Mike.”

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So, you know how you go to work in the school cafeteria in your $100 shoes that you bought because your plantar fasciitis was really acting up, and then suddenly the hip you’ve had problems with since you were 19 years old decides to make you start limping like you’re elderly, and then you go home to find your one year old dog got your bottle of Ambien off of the counter and REMOVED THE CHILDPROOF LID, and you think that you can’t call the vet because she will insist that you bring her in and they’ll pump her stomach and it will cost you $800 and the dog will still die, so you look it up online and see that you should induce vomiting, so you give the dog some Hydrogen Peroxide and then she vomits the entire world in your backyard while you’re walking around holding your ears and singing, “La-la, I can’t hear you making that hacking sound and re-eating your own vomit”, and then you go pick up your kids at school and your son has a fever and he cries so hard that he throws up too.

Yeah, me too.

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I’m going to allow myself to be conceited, because this is my blog and I’m my own editor and I can have an ego if I want to. Neener-neener.

You know how everyone sits down at a job interview and says, “I’m a people person”? Well, I really am a people person. I’m an extrovert, a talker, a social butterfly, if you will. I love people.

And, I hate ignorance.

I have friends of all different races and colors and beliefs. I love them, not despite our differences, but sometimes because of them. I am doing my best to teach my children the same thing.

This likely wasn’t evident when my son called two Muslim woman “pirates” and it surely wasn’t apparent yesterday at one of our favorite Chinese restaurants.

Because it had to seem that we are breeding nothing but intolerance when my son heard a woman speaking Chinese to her child, looked at her and said, “Uh, we’re not in China.”

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In early 1999, just after my daughter was born 10 weeks premature, I learned a lot of new words. The hospital has a lingo all its own and when you have a baby in the NICU you get a crash course in anatomy, ailments, monitors and medicine. To be completely honest, before our daughter came along we didn’t even know that NICU stood for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

It was there where we learned how to take care of our tiny, new arrival. The nurses taught us what to do if her breathing slowed and they showed us how to touch her with firm hands because being gentle startled her.

The NICU is full of science and full of caring. It was where I saw my daughter being tube-fed and it is where I held her skin-to-skin because I was told it would help her grow. It is a place of delicate balance.

It was in the NICU that I first heard of Aquaphor.

I arrived at the hospital one day to find a small jar with a pharmacy label on it. My daughter had been prescribed a mixture of Aquaphor and Maalox to treat her very first diaper rash.

Let’s just say that it wasn’t the only time we used that jar. My little girl was famous for her middle of the night, up the back poops. She didn’t just get a red bottom, but rather a red area stretching from her diaper to her neck.

Now, more than a decade later, I am working in the cafeteria at my kids’ school. I never thought I would wash my hands more than I did when my daughter was in the hospital, but there is something about preparing food for hundreds of children that makes you want to keep your hands clean.

During the school year, especially throughout winter, my hands are more red and cracked than my daughter’s rear-end ever was.

When Eucerin contacted me and asked if I would like to try one of their products, I jumped at the chance to sample their Healing Ointment. This would also be when I slapped myself in the forehead, because I hadn’t thought of using it for my dry, chapped hands.

For the past week I have been putting the Healing Ointment on my hands and feet before I go to bed. In order to get the most out of the product, I have been wearing socks and gloves. I know that seems extreme, but you haven’t seen my dry skin.

And, you know what? You won’t see it. I now have the smoothest skin I can ever remember. After years of spending a lot of money on pricey lotions, it took a week of Aquaphor and some old gloves to heal me.

The generous folks at Eucerin want to heal your skin too. They have asked me to choose two lucky readers to receive an Aquaphor Wonder Set, valued at $33.00, which includes the following:
Aquaphor Lip Repair: Aquaphor Lip Repair effectively relieves dryness and soothes chapped lips so you can smile comfortably. Provides immediate and long-lasting relief for dry lips, seals in moisture and prevents dryness. Fragrance-free, preservative-free, dye-free and appropriate for sensitive lips.

Aquaphor Healing Ointment: Protects extremely dry, chapped, cracked or irritated skin and helps enhance the skin’s natural healing process. The multi-purpose ointment is safe to use on babies’ sensitive skin; it relieves chapped cheeks, treats diaper rash and relieves dry skin associated with eczema.

Aquaphor Gentle Wash & Shampoo: A convenient cleanser that gently cleanses both skin and hair. Enriched with soothing chamomile and provitamin B5, it is specially designed to be gentle for baby’s sensitive skin. Soap-free, fragrance-free, tear-free and pediatrician recommended.
To enter, leave a comment on this post (please provide a valid e-mail address) before noon EST on Friday, October 8, 2010. For an extra entry just tweet a link to this page (add @Momofali to your tweet).
Good luck and happy healing!

*UPDATE*  Congratulations to Amy and Shelly!  Your Aquaphor will be shipped soon!  Enjoy!

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