In the house i grew up in on Echo Road, there was one thing for certain. . . there was always a supply of q-tips with wooden sticks. They were always behind the oak cabinent door in the pink bathroom. (yeah, my poor brothers had to put up with a pink bathroom becasue my mom was single) My mom was addicted to q-tips, and she passed that addiction on to me as well. She also "taught" me how to clean my ears with wooden stick q-tips. Some of you might be grossed out about what i am going to reveal, but you will just have to deal with it or try it. My mom would stick the clean q-tip in her mouth very quickly to just get the swab a little damp. She found it had better cleaning clingy power that way and it felt better in her ear. I learned it that way, tried it and like it. I cannot stand an over-dry q-tip swab. I remember when TJ first realized i did this. . . now he does too. We always had wooden stick. The others just didn't even come close to comparison. . .too floppy and too bendy. They would bend and flop at the first touch of wax or the ear canal.
As i got older, wooden stick became harder and harder to find. When my mom or i found them, we would stock up on them. . . until finally there was no more to be found anywhere (we even sank so low as to look at Walmart). Our everyday ear cleaning just wasn't the same. It no longer brought that sense of comfort and satisfaction. It just brought frustration and bendy q-tips.
I write this because last night TJ ran up to Meijer to get me some cold medicine and do you know what he brought back as a surprise to me? Yep, Wooden Stick cotten swabs (not the q-tip brand, but i didn't care) I almost wet myself. We both opened up the container, inserted a q-tip head into our mouth, and began to clean our ears. The feeling that came over me was so wonderful. TJ, now, also agrees that wooden stick is far superior to bendy stick. He bought two boxes of them. I will savor every one of them. It breaks my heart to think that my mom passed away thinking wooden sticks were gone forever. I am sure now she knows differently. . .in fact, she was probably waiting for me to discover them. I think i will go clean my ears now.
4 comments:
Every time I buy Q-tips I remember how much you loved the wooden sticks, and how you let me use one once and it was heavenly. Thank goodness I didn't let myself get hooked or I would've been so disappointed when they stopped carrying them. Strangely enough, I recently discovered the joys of licking the Q-tip before putting it in my ear and I love it. Also I've never told anyone that I do that. What a relief to hear that other (non-crazy) people do this as well!
You know that good feeling of cleaning your ears? My friend Chris called it an "eargasm". :)
Sarah- I think there are more lickers (non-crazy ones) out there than we can comprehend.
Anonymous- I love that term. Would Chris mind if i borrowed it?
I don't use wooden Q-tips but I do wet the end. I learned that from my mother also. One day I was at her house and I asked for a Q-tip she got me one and watched me wet the end. She started to laugh and asked if I learned that from her. Funny how this was not something that she taught me but it was something I picked up through observation.
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