Parenting in Public

As someone who was never particularly baby-crazy, it has come as a big surprise to me how much people loooooove babies. They want to coo over them and touch them (which freaks out ol' germaphobe me). Now, I don't deny that my little guy (LG) is absolutely wonderful and adorable, but really.

This week I got some interesting remarks.

1. From the middle-aged cashier in Walgreen's. After she cooed over how adorable he looked, sleeping in his wrap all snuggled against my chest, she said, "You're spoiling him!"

2. From the elderly mason at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center. "He doesn't sleep in your bed, does he? That's a no-no!" I'd like to see him try and transfer LG to his bassinet. It's always easy to give advice when you don't have a squalling infant voting on your behavior.

3. A random mom at the pancake house. "Does he sleep through the night?" When I admitted that he had, he just doesn't do it often, she practically burst into tears. "I need to hug you! You know my pain!" And we commiserated on hearing other parents of little babies talk about how their angels sleep for 12-hour stretches and agreed that they're all lying.

Well, look at this sweet guy. Who wouldn't want to spoil him?

So as much as I would be suited to having a baby who really prefers some alone time, thank you very much, I am going to be taking the long view of infancy. He's only this small for a short amount of time, and if wearing him and snuggling with him in bed (safely!) are spoiling him, then we'll just have to deal with one very spoiled toddler. God help us.

Hiatus over, but I have some things to think about

Coming back to this blog after a respectable 4-month maternity leave, I can't help but laugh at my last post. All I can think is, "Wow, the pregnant woman in that picture had no idea what was coming!"

But before I get back to posting pictures and such, I have a couple of issues to present:

1. My child's privacy. My sister mentioned this to me once. She posts pictures of her kids on her blog, but not their names. She had read something about allowing your children a certain amount of privacy despite your own internet presence. Do I post my baby's pictures here with his name? I have other friends who do that and presumably they don't have any problems. Do I just stick to posting him on Facebook (which Aaron is better about doing -- feel free to friend him if you think you're missing the pics!)?

2. I really, really wish I could sew or knit. Larger swaddling blankets could be done in a jiffy. I could knit that Santa hat that I've always loved so he could wear it in our Christmas cards. Or that pumpkin hat that I love. My sister and I have been saying how important it is to have a tangible skill in this economy, something you can do with your hands because you're all the more employable.

3. I had all sorts of child-rearing theories before my baby was born. I was definitely one of those opinionated childless people who just KNOWS how to raise a child (and I probably owe apologies to all of my friends with children for suffering through any advice I gave, although I hope I didn't do it too often). What happened? Not just the reality of actually raising a child -- the sleep deprivation made me forget all of my ideas I'd gotten from my Psych classes, observing friends, etc. The only thing I remember came friend a friend I made in college. She was a 60-something woman who'd come back to finish her degree after dropping out 40+ years before to get married. She said that her friends spent too much time thinking about all the ways they wanted to be different from their parents, and all that negative focus turned them into their parents. She believed you should remember one way in which you want to emulate your parents and one way in which you don't. That I can handle.