I am holding a baby right now. And typing very slowly. My ex boss (of co-worker thread fame) gave birth two weeks ago. She came in today to turn in her paperwork for maternity leave and meet with my boss. But that’s beside the point.
I was in a bad mood today. Very down, feeling sorry for myself bad mood over a myriad of things that I won’t bore you with. My ex boss came in, handed me the baby (okay, okay…I took the baby right out of her arm), and ten minutes later I was happy. It’s amazing how a newborn changes your perspective.
Here is this brand new person. With beautiful curly blond hair and blue eyes that don’t really register much yet. Who can’t talk or understand a whole lot. But she has all this potential. All this life to look forward to. What could be more amazing and miraculous than that?
And really. Does it matter whether or not that report gets done by the end of the day? Well, to my boss, probably yes. But what does he know?
When my first nephew was three weeks old I sat with him for about an hour and a half. At one point he started to cry, so I picked him up and put him on my shoulder, patted his back, and so on. You know that thing babies do, mushing their face on your should to “soften” it up, then laying their little head down and going to sleep? Awwwww! Aunt Baker was ready to melt into a big marshmallow.
We used to argue over who could hold our babies–especially in winter–they are so open and present --it warms the heart (and the rest of the body-hence the arguments-our house is cold!)…does a body good.
Babies are always great - when they’re not yours. I distinctly remember harboring deeply violent feelings towards my siblings, who would keep everyone up with their whining and crying, until they and I were a little older; I was regularly forced to babysit for hours at a stretch (so my responsibilities included bathing, changing, feeding, the whole shebang), and eventually the deeply violent feelings gave way to violent fantasies that, ten years later, still occasionally float across my mind.
Yeah, that’s definitely part of it. Knowing that I could just enjoy that baby being cute and sweet and not have to wake up every 2 1/2 hours with her has a lot to do with how much I love babies now.
There is no WAY there will be any more babies in the if6-Maureen household, other than grandkids. I’m looking forward to that. Playing with the baby, spoiling the baby, sugaring the baby up…then giving it back! MUAHAHAHAHAAHAAAA.
I have a 4 month old daughter (in addition to 6 & 3 yo boys), and when I come home from a hard day’s work, seeing her smile just melts the stress away.
I nannied two brothers for a summer a few years back. One was about two and a half and the other was three months at the beginning of the summer, six months at the end (funny how that works). I came back to visit them after I went back to school. Of course the older boy remembered me, but I wasn’t so sure about the little one. I went over to him in his little chair and said “Hey buddy, remember me?” His little face litup* and he squeeled. Yay! Baby likes me! Four years later that memory still makes me warm and fuzzy.
Babies make me nervous. What do I do if they start crying? How can I make them stop? Why won’t they tell me what’s wrong?
But I get the same happy feeling of adoration and relaxation if I’m holding or hugging a cat, so I can understand. If I can cradle a cat in my arms or pat him as he purrs on my lap, I am very content at that moment, and nothing can bring me down… as long as I wash my hands immediately afterwards and don’t touch my face.
Oh, you have no idea the joy you just brought to my heart. Seriously, if you live in the Bay Area and want to watch him and perhaps make a bit of $$ doing so, please email me. He is fun and snuggly and mommy needs to clean the house.
