Don't insult babies
At Maria and Nate's wedding last week, some old Nav fellows (Nate and Joy) were there with their little baby. He was just adorable with his big blue eyes and chubby cheeks. Of course myself, along with many others, made fools of ourselves for this baby by making weird faces and talking baby talk. However, I got to thinking how funny it is that when it comes to a baby, it's okay to grab and poke at them. Just watch people around a baby; you'll see them flock around and all begin to poke at him/her. People tickle them, grab their extremities, pat them on the bum, or even downright jab at them with a finger. I think it is amusing that this is acceptable. I am not excluding myself, as I am probably the worst. I'm pretty sure I did all on above list and more to Nate and Joy's son. I wonder if some babies are insulted by this. Now, some may be just precocious enough to not appreciate the poking and grabbing. I personally think it's possible due to personal experience. I don't remember anything as a little baby but I remember an incident when I was almost 3 years old. I remember going with my parents and various aunts and uncles to visit my grandma (Dad's side) in the hospital. I had swallowed a penny when I was 2 years old and had to go in this same hospital to have surgery to remove it (it was stuck in my esophagus). So, upon entering this same hospital where I had previously come to get a penny-ectomy, I began to cry thinking that I had to go back into the hospital for surgery again. I then remember clearly my parents and relatives laughing and saying "she thinks she has to be in the hospital again". I was insulted that they would mock me in my ignorance. How was I supposed to know that they weren't sending me back in? Babies are probably more intuitive than we give them credit for, so do your best not to insult them. I guess my message here is to be careful when you poke at babies because they might remember it.
posted by Sam at 12:40 PM
3 Comments:
I also remember being young and enduring things like that. Parents who yell at their kids in public places, like the mall, make me want to yell at them. Kids seriously get embarrased when their parent starts to flip out on them and everyone else can see. Take your kid home or something and then discuss it. You'll probably be in a better mind to go through it at that time anyway.
Here's one for you Sam:
When I was about three years old, my mom took me on an Easter egg hunt in a local park. Being Wisconsin, there was a lot of snow on the ground still, and everyone had to wear snow boots (though this make the brightly-colored Easter eggs easier to find). My mom was really gung-ho about finding the most eggs. Notice: she wasn't gung-ho about ME finding eggs, she just wanted to get the most out of everyone, and I was essential to that plan as it was an Easter egg hung for CHILDREN. At one point, my boot fell off in the snow. My mom did not notice, and continued to drag me along to find more eggs. My little foot started to freeze, so I began to cry. I could not, in my three-year-old ability to communicate, say "Mother, would you be so kind as to stop for a moment? I seemed to have misplaced my snowboot, and my foot is wet and freezing." She essentially told me to shut-up and keep going. (Note: I love my mother and wouldn't want any other in the world. Besides, we all find these stories pretty darn funny now-a-days.)
We'll just have to remember to be patient enough to communicate with our kids instead of mocking them, embarrassing them, or threatening amputation.
2:07 PM
Don't worry about it Mom, I actually think it is pretty funny. Good story, Laura, by the way.
9:06 PM
The thing about babies is that they usually become adults. So if we did insult babies all the time and they decided to declare war on us, they'd all eventually join our team anyway. Plus adults could just quit having kids. We'd definitely win the war.
11:20 AM
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