On Poo.

If there's one subject that magically stops being taboo among otherwise civil adults once a kid arrives, that subject is poo.

Yeah, I don't know why, either.

The best I can figure is that it's gallows humor. After all, as parents, we're actively having to deal with one of the foulest, most disgusting substances on earth, multiple times per day. There's just no getting around that sad fact. In many cases, you're actually getting sprayed with said substance during a diaper change. It might end up on the walls, or the furniture, or god-knows-where. But it's something that has to be done, so what else is there to do but joke about it?

There is a line, though. A few months ago the wife and I were at a nice seafood restaurant in Charleston with four other couples - all either parents or expectant parents. There were no kids present; we were all getting some much-needed adult time.

And yet, while enjoying this fantastic meal of fresh seafood, what did we talk about? Yeah. Poo. Yellow poo vs brown poo. Smooth poo vs. 'seedy' poo. Eventually, I sort of nervously laughed and said, "Guys. We've been talking about poo for the last five minutes. NEW SUBJECT!"

Everyone else laughed... though I never quite worked out whether they were laughing at me being squeamish, or laughing because they realized what, exactly, they had been doing.

Alright, I'll admit, I have issues. I still retch sometimes when changing dirty diapers, and my angel of a wife does most of them for me. But still, even when we're parents, there are some standards of decorum that really should maintained, yes?

Poo or no poo, there are still plenty of moments when it's all worth it. Like this one: