Say what??

Well, this is a topic I never thought I'd blog about--earwax. Rest assured it's not a typical topic of interest for me, but I just read a great post by Grace at Chois-R-Us about the difference between Caucasian and Asian earwax. 

Say what?? There's a difference in earwax? Out of all the things we've endeavored to learn about becoming a multi-racial family, I never gave earwax a second thought. (For the record, I never gave earwax a first thought either.)

If you are too lazy to click over to Grace's blog (really though, you should), I'll summarize. There are two types of ear wax: "wet" which is what people of African or European descent have (amberish, moist and gooey) and "dry" which is what about 90 percent of Asians have (grayish, dry and flaky). The difference is evidently due to a gene mutation Asians have that prevents the buildup of cerumen in the ear, which is what makes earwax wet.

So you know (I hope) how to clean the wet type. But the dry type tends to build up more, and thus, is usually removed with a pick.

Izy Bamboo Picks

The picks look like tiny torture devices although many companies seem to do their best to friendly them up. The thought of having someone dig around in my ear with one of those things is pretty scary, but it sounds like I have seriously been missing out on one of life's pleasures because it's described as:

• "often done by lovers as a sign of intimacy and vulnerability"
• "one of care, relaxation, closeness and pleasure" 
• or, brace yourself, "as intercourse for your ear." 

Hmm. That one almost convinces me to give it a try.

If you are enticed to try it yourself, you can find play-by-play ear picking instructions HERE.

I knew we might discover new things after becoming a multi-racial family. But learning about this kind of stuff still catches me by surprise! I wonder what other things we might come across?

Now that I know about it, I'm still not sure I'm going to be able to do it. I get antsy watching The Man clean his ears because he pokes that darned swab so far in there. Not sure I could dig into the squirmy Little Man's ears with a tiny stick, and I'm very sure I couldn't watch The Man do it either.

Guess we'll cross that bridge when the time comes.