So me and the Hub took our little guy out for ice cream the other day (pre tacos, pre stomach flu, yech). I watched the chocolate fudge ice cream melting off the cone he was holding, seeing it smeared all over his hands and his sweet little face, and I couldn’t help but think of the following story.On the east coast, ice cream is a really big deal.  There are many little ice cream stands that are only open during the ‘season’ which is usually Memorial Day thru Labor Day.  So when it’s available, people go in droves, daily.Now on this particular day last year, I happened to be at our local ice cream stand in upstate New York with several parents and their children.  It was a warm day and we were all feeling mellow and enjoying the sun and the sound of the kids playing in the field, watching the airplanes taking off from the airport right next to the big open field behind the stand.  I watched as one dad came over to help his young daughter with her dripping ice cream cone.  He smiled and asked her if her cone needed a maintenance lick.  She said yes and he proceeded to lick off all the drips before handing it back to her.  I had never heard that expression before, but thought it was so cute and clever.  That’s what we as parents do for our kids all the time, right?  We clean up the drips on their ice cream cones, we spit polish the dirt from their face, we brush the dust from their clothes, etc.  What a sweet little family moment.A few minutes later, I found myself sitting next to one of my friends, who shall remain nameless but her picture is sitting on my bedside table, (ha) and relaying this warm, touching moment.  My friend has three young sons and is possibly the funniest woman I know.  She listened to me tell this story and then stopped and gave me a long stare.  I’m all ‘WHAT?’ And this is what she said:’You know Linda, when I hear the term ‘maintenance lick’ it really brings something completely different to mind.’  Suddenly it clicked – OMG that is soooo funny.  We both started giggling.  Then we were laughing so hard I realized the bladder tuck I got as an added little bonus to my hysterectomy, miiight need a refresher. Blushing bright red, she continued:  ‘Here is what I think of some poor woman saying:  Ya know honey, I realize it’s been seven years, but I could really use a MAINTENANCE LICK!’ Yeah, it gets me right there too, every time I think of it