Monday, July 12, 2010

I'm Not a Bad Mommy, I Was Just Born 50 Years Too Late

Okay. You all have been very patient with the lack of real updates lately, so as a reward, I promise to post every day this week. And I further promise to post pictures with every post this week. Starting today. Here goes!

Since it's been a few days, let's start with a Bad Mommy post. I know how much you all enjoy seeing proof of my terrible lack of parenting skills. To that end, I offer you Exhibit A:


Yes, that is my handsome son. And yes, he is in the dresser drawer.

I wish there was a fascinating story here, but really, there's not. The truth is that Miles became interested in the dresser one afternoon, so Patrick pulled it open and put him in it. Miles thought it was hysterical and hammed it up for the camera, as you can see.

Interestingly enough, this picture reminds me of something my Grandma Joy said to me, not long before Miles was born. I was complaining about how expensive babies are, and the fact that we hadn't yet found a crib for Miles. (If you'll recall, we never did get one until he was . . . what? three months old?) In her incredibly practical way, she says:

"You don't need all that crap. Just clean out a dresser drawer, line it with blankets, and there you go. Instant baby bed."

I started to laugh. But she was serious. She couldn't fathom why I was spending money on a place for Miles to sleep, when I had a perfectly good dresser drawer right there.

I guess things have changed a little since Grandma had kids. I often joke about being called a Bad Mommy, but honestly, we're a LOT more protective of our kids now. In Grandma's day, it wasn't unusual for kids to fall off of playground equipment and break an arm. It was rather expected that children would burn themselves at least once on a hot stove. Kids played with cast iron pots and pans, and probably pinched their fingers more than once. And, apparently, babies slept in dresser drawers without mothers fearing a call from Social Services.

I don't really know where I'm going with this, other than to point out how seriously protective we are of our children in modern times. Interesting, no?

No comments:

Post a Comment