Pica Boo

You may remember, if you read this blog regularly  that I joked in one entry about the wee man probably having pica. Now if you're a parent you will know that all babies and young toddlers stick everything in their mouths, this is a given. As these things are passed from child to child it annoyingly leads to your children always being ill and you always being covered in a layer of slimy drool usually on a jumper that has just been washed or which is 'Clean on' as the The Chancellor says. 

Anyway what happens when you discover your child has taken a GIANT bite out of cardboard book or you find him eating cork from the back of a coaster. Is this just cute exploration of the world or have we got ourselves a bit of a problem? Am I going to have to incorporate electro-shock treatment into our daily routine? The major problem with this is that we are trying to save money on our energy bills and a sudden surge in electricity would get me into trouble with The Chancellor. 

Maybe I'm just over thinking it, maybe all children have a pica child inside of them. After all the Latin meaning of the word pica is magpie which is very apt for the wee man as he loves anything shiny or anything that any other baby has, bell, rattle toy etc. The thing that confuses me is that cardboard and cork aren't even tasty things even if you season them with salt and pepper and mixed herbs. He has turned his nose up once at salmon and lemon risotto which is vastly superior to cardboard and cork. Maybe he knows something I don't, maybe in a few years time we will all be eating cork. Seeing as we will all be screwed in a decade or so for food, maybe it would be a viable option? Maybe though I should just get out of the house more and stopping obsessing about cork.

jpr