On Weddings and Personal Hygiene

Well, last Saturday I went to a wedding reception. The bride and groom slide show was going in the church and everybody was "aahhh"ing at the loving couple gliding onto the screen. I happened to have the groom's four year old daughter sitting next to me in the pew. I set my arm on the pew behind her head to keep it from falling asleep. At this point she was eye level with my armpit... which is always a precarious place for a four year old girl who says whatever comes to her mind. She looked up, and because I had a capped sleeve she was privy to what was under my arm.

"Why do you have pokeys coming out?", she asked as she pointed to my armpit.

I glanced down wondering how I had managed to get something on my shirt so early in the day. I was confused for a second until I looked past my shirt to the skin under my arm. It had been a bit cooler lately, so in the absence of tank tops I hadn't bothered to shave my armpits for a few days. I chuckled to myself thinking about how kids say the darndest things.

"Well, I shaved the hair there and now it's starting to grow back."

Now at this point we'd kept the conversation within earshot of only a couple of people, so when she asked why I shaved my armpits I explained that usually people do when they're grown up. Not picking up on my subtle, low voiced cues she decided to tell me a little about her family... quite loudly.

"Oh! My dad shaves his armpits!"

The only thing that could've been louder at that moment was the snorts coming from the surrounding adults unsuccessfully muffling the jocularity. A glance over at her father, the groom, all the way across the center aisle confirmed the strong vocal ability of his daughter. Turning away from his raised eyebrows, I hushed the little princess to a whisper.

"We need to talk quietly while the pictures are being shown."

And of course the explanation comes in a quiet whisper.

"I've seen him shave. He takes a can and sprays it on the hair in his armpit, pulls it back out", and with a sweeping motion of her hand to the top of the imaginary can, "and puts the lid back on!".

Bless her heart.

~Deanna~