Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Babies


There are so many wonderful things in this world that it would be a blessing to be able to encounter all of them in one lifetime. Of course, with good things come our fair share of bad things but I think all the good things make it worth it, right?

Not everyone gets to travel the world and live in luxury. Not everyone is guaranteed a proper meal or clean water each day. But one thing that most people do have is the ability to procreate. Obviously this is not always a good thing and there are men and women who cannot have children for various reasons. Some people can’t afford to have children or are unable to properly care for them. Maybe it is just a bad environment altogether.

But this blog isn’t about the serious issues of the world and I never intended it to be. The main purpose of this blog is to talk about BABIES. Regardless of who the parents are, where they live and their circumstances, babies are bundles of joy that should be cherished and adored and here are all of the reasons why.



I have not had a child of my own yet seeing as I’m still in school working towards a degree and living at home with my parents at the age of 21 but I have had first hand experience with infants over the years. I’m sure that many parents would be able to relate even more than I can.



1) Have you ever had that moment where you’re about to hold a baby for the first time and you feel as if someone is putting their entire world in your arms?

It’s a nerve wracking experience, especially when you’ve never had much experience with children in general.

You hold them slightly away from your body as if you are a danger to them or they will explode at any moment.

Every tiny movement they make has you panicking and feeling like you’re losing control.



But at the same time you want everyone to think you know what you’re doing, like you’re a pro or it just comes naturally. So you tell yourself to calm down and be more confident. You hold that baby with a proud look on your face while the parents give you encouraging smiles.

But come on, you know they’re REALLY thinking “WATCH THE HEAD!” “Why are they holding him like a football?” or “I really hope they don’t have kids...”

But that first time holding a baby and successfully refraining from dropping them on their head is a great moment and makes you feel like you can handle anything.



2) In the grand scheme of things, throughout life people are taught to believe that babies are weak and fragile creatures that should be tiptoed around all of the time.

So our mind is blown when the fierce grip of a tiny baby fist shatters that schema to pieces.

Babies have some pretty nifty reflexes that are fun to witness. When a baby grips your finger with their hands of steel you’ll be surprised by how much strength they actually have.

Although this is just a normal reflex…it’s still nice to pretend that they purposefully hold your finger that tight and don’t want to let you go.





3) Let’s be honest here, babies are just freaking adorable…Which is completely intentional because it ensures the survival of our species. We, as humans, would be less likely to take care of a vile looking creature as compared to one that makes us say “awwww.”

With their chubby cheeks and dimpled bottoms and stubby arms and legs.

We can’t forget their angel hair, wide curious eyes and head that is too big for their body.

Or how about their perfect skin, infectious laugh and smiles caused by impending farts.

Somehow, babies make us use ridiculous high pitched voices and babble words that don’t even exist. SOMEHOW babies make us want to hug and kiss and tickle them until they’re so tired from laughing. It’s because they’re cute and we all know it.

4) This is purely guesswork here, but I’m PRETTY sure another reason parents adore their babies is because they are their own.

That baby is a little piece of them. A perfect little combination of genes that is, at the same time, a growing mystery.

How tall will she be? What will her voice sound like when she begins to talk? Will he look more like mom or dad? Will she be shy or outgoing?

So many questions are unanswered and humans are intrigued by mystery.




We have to know the answers to everything which is why I think parents enjoy babies so much. They are their own personal little mystery. A mystery that parents have a mixed sense of control over. Nature versus nurture anyone? Regardless, to watch your own spawn grow up in front of your very eyes is amazing, I’m sure.

5) Have you ever been in a store? How about a store that has clothes? Let’s be more specific.

Have you ever been in a store that sells infant clothes? I don’t know why but tiny versions of things are immediately ten times cuter than regular sized things.

I can’t be the only one that thinks this.

Babies have the cutest clothes. Sure, they grow out of them within a few weeks but it’s okay because they are cute.

Have you ever seen a tiny little pair of shoes and wanted to buy them even if you don’t have a kid? I have. In fact, the other day I saw the smallest pair of blue Crocs I have ever seen in my life. I HATE crocs. But these crocs? Heck, I wanted them! They were smaller than my fist!

6) Did you have a really boring life? Wow, what a way to start a paragraph, let’s try that again. Do you have regrets about your lack of experiences growing up? Hmm…not much better, oh well.

Well another great thing about babies is you can live vicariously through them!

 Didn’t get a chance to take ballet classes? Put your kid in ballet classes and go to their recitals!

Didn’t get to hit a homerun on a baseball team? Sign your kid up for a sport and cheer from the sidelines!



Go ahead and be that annoying parent screaming from the bench. Just kidding, that’s a bit much. Also, I do not condone entering children in beauty pageants, that’s crossing a major line.

But you know what I mean folks! Babies give you a chance to give your kid the childhood you never had and it’s a great feeling to see them have fun and know that you are the one responsible for giving them that opportunity.

7) Babies are awesome because you can call them whatever you want and they won’t care. You can give them the most embarrassing nickname that they will cringe at in their teenage years, but for now they don’t know any better! Call them pookie, baby bums or boobly bear, it doesn’t matter.

They won't be like "WHAT did you call me? SO not cool mom..."
8) Lastly, we all remember the shows we used to watch when we were tiny tots bouncing around in our bouncy swings and crawling on the rough carpets of the living room. We remember Elmo and the rest of the Sesame Street characters.

Back in the day when the Cookie Monster was still the Cookie Monster and we didn’t know what animal Arthur was.

We remember the care bears theme song and all the Looney Tunes characters.

Back when Franklin was still on regularly and Barney wasn’t creepy.

Babies give us all that opportunity to sit on the couch with our legs up and watch kiddy shows all day without feeling guilty.

Your excuse is that you’re watching them with your kid but you know, deep down inside, you are enjoying being a kid again yourself for a while.

I’m sure there are countless other reasons why people love babies but these are some that have been most prominent in my little world. Babies are hard work, but they are also cute, fun, lovable and huggable. They may kick and scream and whine and be really extreme, but at the end of the day, the good is worth the bad.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice piece Meg! xo Dad

Megggle said...

Thanks Daddio :P

Unknown said...

When my son was an infant we had a towel that we would dry him off after a bath with. It was a winney the pooh towel. One corner of the towel had a pocket that you put over baby's head. There were ears built into the towel, that made him look like a bear cub. He was soo cute with that towel on, I was so moved by seeing him in that towel

Megggle said...

@Dan aw thats cute :) I know what towels you're talking about :P