Hiding quarters

I never understood until I was a parent how a toddler's mispronunciation of words morphs so naturally into a family's permanent vernacular. I guess if you hear it wrong enough times, you subconsciously start repeating what you hear -- even when you're the adult!

Peanut started having flare-ups of eczema after she turned 1. I learned to stay ahead of the breakouts, and when we do, the itchiness isn't a problem. But every once in a while the eczema beats us to the punch. Thankfully, we have prescription hydrocortisone that we put on the "itchies," as Peanut calls them, to stop them in their tracks.

Last winter, I was putting some hydrocortisone on an itchy when she picked up the tube and called it her "hiding quarters." After that, every time she had a breakout, she would say, "Mama, can I have some hiding quarters for my itchies?"

It wasn't until last week that I realized no one in this house refers to hydrocortisone by its correct pronunciation. At least WE know what we're talking about! (I'm sure a babysitter or two has been confronted with this request and wondered what we're doing with our coins)

As far as the eczema goes, we use high-moisture, all-natural lotions twice a day, in addition to a kind-of expensive bath soap. We've managed well so far, but I recently read about this study involving bleach baths, and, crazy as it sounds, maybe it's worth a try this winter. It might save us refilling our prescription for hiding quarters.