Do you want me to put my fingers in your mouth?

People seem to have some irrepressible urge that I don't understand to put their hands all over babies' faces - even strangers. Personally, I really dislike having my face touched at any point by anyone, so perhaps this is the stem of some of my frustration on the issue, but I can't even express clearly how disturbing, how disgusting, it is to me when I see dirty or just potentially dirty hands aiming for Eleanor's face when she has plenty of cute chub to tickle on her arms, legs and tummy. Even I wash my hands before picking her up or playing with her and she's my kid. I will say that it bothers me less when people I know do this, but there is still the part of me that cringes, thinking about how little I would like it if their fingers were all over my face instead. But I don't freak out. If it's a real problem, I ask the person to stop or I move away from them. And in the end, *sigh*, she is perfectly washable.

One more gross factor, even worse: peoples' fingers in my baby's mouth. Do you want me to put my fingers in your mouth? Maybe touching El's face won't ensure passage of germs. Maybe that is me instituting a level of personal quirks on my baby. Maybe. But it is never OK in any other circumstance to put your fingers in anyone else's mouth so I don't think someone else's baby should somehow not apply to that rule.

To be honest, the only place on her body I don't cringe at when people touch - and we're talking strangers here, people who I don't know or don't know their personal hygiene habits - is her legs. And of all the people I've introduced her to in the last three months, the only people who have been so cognizant of the germiness of touch have been my teacher friends and one teacher friend's boyfriend - a nurse.

This is one mom's plea to the rest of the world: please be aware that you're messing with biology and instincts, bred into mothers over the last few eons, to keep our babies safe and clean. Yes, babies are cute. Yes, they're fun to play with. But if I doubt for a second that you're clean, I'm not worrying about a little bit of dirt beneath your fingernails, I'm suddenly worried about everything else - scarlet fever, Ebola. You might think it's silly, and perhaps it is a little. No, I don't think I can protect her from everything, but it's one small gesture on your part to show your goodwill in our silent deal: I let you share in the joy of my baby if you come at her clean. Us moms work really hard for a long time to grow healthy and beautiful babies.