They're cute, little, squidgy humans with cheeks that you just want to pinch. They're babies! Yesterday I watched a documentary aptly named 'Babies' after I watched Mean Girls 2 (yes they did make a sequel and yes it did have the same story line as the first Mean Girls minus Lindsay Lohan, Tina Fey, Amanda Seyfried, Rachel McAdams... pretty much all of the good actresses...) It was a remarkable movie (babies not mean girls 2... shudder). 4 different babies living in 4 very different places around the world and yet they were all the same. They all had a strong connection with their mothers. They all formed those vital first words (although those words were very different... four different langauges after all) and they all took their first wobbly steps in the world. The differences were merely in how they achieved these feats. Was it with the assistance of a mother earth walking class or merely the need to chase the goat by the watering hole? They were incredible. All very different but they're all itty bitty humans.
Babies are incredibly fragile. That's what I've always thought at least. They don't have the street cred to quite figure everything out for themselves. It's this lack of knowledge which inevitably leads them to make mistake after mistake after mistake. There was a distinct difference between the American parenting and the African parenting. The American parents wanted so desperately to do the best by their child that they'd gone out and bought kiddy locks, baby monitors and every other piece of paraphernalia which in American culture it is almost seen as child abuse to do without. Conversely the African baby didn't even have nappys. It's mother simply let it roam free with the attitude that 'the other children will look after him'. In my sheltered life at the beginning when I saw the African lifestyle I immediately thought they must have a high chance of ecoli. The baby didn't get Ecoli. Both babies grew to be happy one year olds despite the significant income difference between them. We really don't need to have that much to raise babies. The only constant between the happy babies was that their mother loved them and would run to their aide at the first 'Ahhhhhhhhhh.....' Except for the Mongolian mother she seemed to take her time... I bet she was watching Home and Away.
The problem with watching a super cute doco about babies is that it immediately makes me feel rather 'plucky'. The camera lens makes the entire experience seem so... perfect. You're pregnant for a little bit then voila you've got a cute little character. It's so glamorous. I have to admit that Miranda Kerr only enhances that image. I mean honestly 'advocating no drugs during child birth?' that's got to hurt... My view of parenthood is rather flawed. It seems like it would follow a simple flow chart. Meet the guy -> have sex with said guy -> pregnant for 9 months -> cute little baby. That's missing a few vital details, such as the nausea, fatigue, back pain, dizziness, heart burn and bloating. Doesn't that just sound glamorous? To be honest I think that instead of merely telling girls in health class that 'you don't want to get pregnant' teacher's should also mention the pain that's involved. That's the best form of contraception. Which raises the simple point that perhaps the reason that people get pregnant is because they're blissfully unaware of the unpleasantness.
Let's imagine a normal couple Jack and Jill. They've been married for a suitable amount of time and now (due to societal pressures) they decide to have a baby. It's all celebration when they proudly announce 'we're pregnant' (btw I hate that phrase because A MAN CAN'T BE PREGNANT unless you're that trans man... A NORMAL MAN CAN'T BE PREGNANT... your wife is pregnant... Gosh). But it's a trap! You see at that point it's too late to back out and it's only at that point that Jill starts vomming everywhere and always looking like she's over eaten.. It's all rather sneaky isn't it? The silver coating means that silly people keep on having babies. Then after they've had their first they're trapped because there's the old saying of 'if you can manage one then you can manage two/three/four/five/SIX'. The whole situation is rather tricky isn't it?
Not all women are stupid. Shock horror anti feminists! Some must know the consequences of their actions. The pain that inevitably comes with the cute little baby. Yet they do it anyway. The only way that these rational women would have done such a silly thing would be if they'd weighed up the pros and cons and the pros won. Despite the physical and mental pain they still want that little baby. It'll make up for all of the unpleasantness. I have to admit at this point that I'm not the kind of person that looks at parents and wonders 'why on earth would you ruin your life with that...?' I merely thought it would be interesting to be a little cynical. The whole process of pregnancy sounds fascinating. Something growing inside of you. Imagine feeling that first kick. Its little bit of communication. You've given life to another human being. There's something incredible about that.
3 Good Things
*A spur of the moment visit from Myfanwy and her sister which lead to a lovely evening in the gardens.
*The Mt Vic lookout you can actually see the whole of wellington.
*My marsden hoody. It's so very cosy!
After Dinner Mint: If my brain was a computer then I'd never have to wonder about limited RAM leading to infuriatingly slow responses because women can multitask!
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