Cryptic children

So I read all of the backlogged eczema news from the holidays. Quite remarkable: there wasn't anything worth talking about. A trawl of the internet at any given time turns up a host of hits for eczema, 50% of which are "eczema is..." explanations for the lucky people who don't know what eczema is; 45% of which are miracle cures; and 5% of which are Yahoo Answers postings along the lines of "OMG i have exsema on my face so gross what can i do about it." Every few days, you see something interesting. But not over the past two weeks, apparently.

And so today I muse: One of the more difficult things about having a very young child with eczema is that they can't explain what they're feeling. Voov is about 18 months and she's just learning to talk, and a lot of the things she says come out garbled. We think she understands most of what we say-- but her answer to any question is usually "yes." What are we to make of it, then, when she starts writhing and crying when we put CeraVe (unscented moisturizer) on her, and she can't tell us why? We ask "is it cold?" "Yes." "Does it sting?" "Yes." Of course, you get the same answer if you ask if it's warm, or if it smells like roses.

I put the CeraVe on myself, and didn't feel anything. But is her skin the same as mine? It must be much more sensitive. As far as we know, CeraVe is the best thing we could be putting on her, and it doesn't raise any irritation.

Lately, she's been learning how to manipulate us, especially where her brother is concerned. She likes to yell "Shmoop!" in a loud, anguished voice, and enjoys bringing her parents' wrath down like artillery on the competition. Perhaps she likes the attention she gets when she complains about CeraVe. It's hard to tell.