the life of a sahd poser

Sorry to be gone so long (my brain having taken a vacation from all creativity, inspiration, and wit), especially because Chins and I have been having some serious adventures together recently on days d.w. is in class. They are adventures for me anyway, dipping my toes into the world of stay-at-home parents a couple of days a week.

I must say it is a welcome change from the stress and constant pressure of grad school...did I mention my prelim's are next semester and I know nothing at all about science? That the past 22 years of schooling (dear god...) have stewed my brain to a gelatinous grey mass? That my major professor and all my committee members are going to discover that I'm a fraud? A giant phony destined to be run out of town in shame?

But that's another post. Sorry.

As I was saying, I've been venturing into a world heretofore known only to those brave souls strong enough to make a career of raising their children. It's a world at once both comfortable and intimidating, where you must simultaneously trust your instincts yet learn to overcome them when necessary. It's enough to drive an evolutionary biologist crazy.

We've been hitting up library story time as often as we can, which for a sahd noob like me is the crucible to end all crucibles. We arrive early so Chins can crawl around and play with the other kids (i.e., slobber on their toys and try to yank out their hair). This leaves me standing with the other parents in a ring around our children, like so many gambling addicts ringing a cockfight. It is then that I feel it most strongly: the ridiculous judgments of small, small people.

"Well, he certainly is a chubby one, isn't he?"

"Oh, you let him come here without shoes on?"

"Is he chewing on that toy? I would never let my Aiden/Caiden/Brayden/Jayden/Hayden/Zayden do something like that."

But I can take it. It's a funny thing; I used to get really hung up on what other people thought of me. I suppose I still do about some things. But when it comes to Chins, I don't give a rat's ass what anyone else thinks. I just breathe, listen to my instincts, and when I look into those big green eyes I know I'm doing OK.

Comments

[Papa Bradstein]

Three things for the Aiden/Caiden/Brayden/Jayden/Hayden/Zayden parents to chew on:
He's a beautiful baby.

Kids learn to walk better without the interference of shoes and good luck trying to keep those things on anyway.

I'm sorry, could you explain to me how to prevent a child from chewing on something, short of zipping them into a plastic bubble until they're two?

Oh, and one more thing for those parents . . . despite your opinions and comments, Chins loves you, which makes him a better role model than you.

[Art Nerd]

i think that certain people believe that they must comment on any child's weight. You never hear someone say, hey, that's an average-sized baby! It's always look at the chubster or check out this lil' peanut! WTF? If I were a baby I'd be so insulted!

Oh, and? MMMMM sand!

[Henitsirk]

Yum, sand! Those must have been some interesting poops. Hope they didn't hurt!

It's hard for people to make conversation about babies without being judgmental. I think it's a reflection of what most adults' mental processes are like: always judging themselves and others. Too bad we can't just STFU and simply observe the kids with no preconceptions!

And I'm with Papa B: shoes are just superfluous decoration at Chins's age. I detect more than a whiff of germophobia in this and the toy-chewing comment.

Good luck on the prelims. You'll be fine.

[andrea]

My younger daughter is a summer baby and learned to walk a bit easier because she was not hindered by socks or slippers.
Had to laugh at the Aidan/Brayden/Caden/Jayden/Graden/Bobaden/Bananafannafo-Faden. My friend is a pediatric resident and was saying that one evening in the ER, she had like 5 kids all in different rooms, all with variations on those names. It was hell to keep them all straight.