I had to take Luki to the doctor on Friday. Ton Ton couldn’t accompany me so I went with Big E because I just knew I was going to need an extra set of hands. My son has been a bit difficult lately, to put it mildly. He’s been teething for what seems like an eternity (and still only has 4 fully protruded teeth) and all the traveling and changes in his routine have created some exorcist worthy moments in our household.

As I expected, he did not want to cooperate with the nurse when she tried to weigh him. Instead he went into full freak out mode, flailing his arms and legs, screaming at the top of his lungs, and pushing the nurse’s hands away every time she tried to sit him on the scale. In the end, the nurse had to weigh me first and then the two of us together.

This wasn’t a regularly scheduled appointment. I had to take Luki in because, during the last few days of our trip to Venezuela, I noticed some strange skin discolorations on his chest and back as well as on his upper lip, kind of like a mustache.

After asking some friends and family and doing a bit of googling, I concluded that my son got, what is referred to by some in the medical profession as: Margarita Dermatitis. A condition often contracted from coming in contact with lime juice while out in the sun.

Although Luki did not drink any margaritas while in Venezuela (he prefers his tequila on the rocks), he did suck on limes almost every time we went to the beach. Why? Because he likes them. And the whole time we were down there he was super picky about eating, often refusing to ingest anything other than yogurt or bananas. So I let him suck on the limes because I figured he would at least be getting some vitamin C. And also because if I took them away, he would freak out and, well, WE WERE ON THE BEACH! RELAXING! If sucking on limes was going to keep him quiet, then so be it.

And this is the part where Big E says something like, “Oh, I see. You NEEDED to relax! He LIKED the limes! What’s going to happen when he starts to like marijuana or cocaine?? What if he decides he likes to jump off bridges or play with snakes?? What are you going to do then??”

To which I can only respond: How long will the snakes keep him entertained for?

Anyway, now my kid is multi-colored. He is stained. He looks tie-dyed. And even though it’s nothing serious and the doctor didn’t even prescribe any medication, it could take weeks, even months, to go away.

As I think about it, perhaps that newfound ability to grow a mustache is what’s really responsible for his recent streak of rebellion.