Toes

[ailbhe]

I trimmed the children's nails again today - that's almost a week since the last time. I'm really hoping that more regular trimming will help. I've always had very straight, tidy toes and toenails, and fairly ok fingernails. Rob has curly toes and bitten fingernails. Linnea bites her fingernails and both children have weird misshapen toes and toenails, though their toes straighten out every time I buy them new shoes.

They used to fight nailclippings like crazy, and so I slacked off, doing one or two nails each time and hoping they all got done in a random pattern over time. But now I'm tackling the problem head-on.

And I've discovered that a small nailclipper is insulting, because it implies that Emer is Not A Big Girl. I guess that's useful data.

Comments

[supermouse]

The odd thing is that, at least where I was working, haircuts, intimate care, stuffing them into a bathtub of water that's too cool to be nice because a proper warm bath triggers fits, putting food into and taking things out of their mouth, ears, nose and eyes, all sorts of things that are really quite freaky are Not A Problem - I had people who could not talk at all but were pretty cool and easy to work with, but *all* of the people who could fight at all had long nails. The only thing at a similar level of refusal was dental work.

Cutting fingernails was a major undertaking, partly through having to force something very unwanted, which no carer enjoys, partly through the stress involved being awful for the poor sod having their nails cut against their will, partly because of the physical danger. I was pretty qualified by the time I left care, but not yet up to a) dealing with the dangerously violent and easily triggered one, b) administering first aid beyond CPR, pressure on wounds and so on that is just basic immediate stop-them-dying-before-the-ambulance-arrives stuff and c) cutting finger nails. Seriously. Fingernails Are A Big Deal.