Conditioning

You might think "Conditioning" as in hair conditioning but only because I happen to be a blonde girl.  But no, I'm talking about BF Skinner's conditioning.  If you are unfamiliar with BF Skinner, google him or take an education class.  Of course, because I'm in a bunch of education classes, we talk about him at least once a semester in each class.
Today, I realized just how much his theory of conditioning makes sense.  There I was, brushing my teeth just like any other morning, and some of the frothy toothpaste started making its way to the back of my mouth.  Gross?  I know. (but not really...)  I ended up swallowing just the tiniest amount.  Immediately, my stomach turned.  I thought I might be sick.  "Mind over matter" I had to remind myself.  It was just a minuscule amount, and I wasn't choking to death; I was going to be okay.  This sounds a bit extreme, but it got me thinking about why something as simple as that would make my stomach do a flip.  It was almost like I was nervous that I was going to die or something.
I've come to conclude that the conditioning we receive as children really works.  When you first start brushing your teeth, you probably used the bubblegum flavor toothpaste, and your mom put a tiny dab on the end for you.  Of course you tried brushing first but just ended up sucking it all off, and then she'd do the actual brushing with nothing left but the bristles to do the cleaning.  If she was watching, helping and waiting for you to give her a chance to brush them, she'd warn you that if you didn't stop, you were going to get sick.  You'd "spit" in the sink and feel extremely accomplished and grown up.  This is how I remember it.
I was never the child to rebel or disobey -we'll just say that I was too much of a chicken to get in trouble.  I don't remember exactly when I stopped swallowing toothpaste, but throughout my childhood, I remember gagging if I even got close to swallowing some.  Perhaps the influence from my older sisters created the fear of getting sick from it.  I've always been extremely careful while brushing my teeth, but I didn't realize how careful I have always been ... until today ...
We'll just leave it as the conditioning from my parents went deep.  Deeper than I knew possible.  Deep enough to make a 21 year old feel like it could be poisonous.
You might think this was an extremely random blog post, and it was! But there you have another random moment in my oh so cRazY, BeAuTiFuL LifE.

(Ke$ha anyone??)