Infant Care
Last night we started our infant care class, offered through the hospital.
We started out by looking at lots of slides of newborns and getting used to the normal characteristics of their bodies (rashes, spots, pimples, dry patches, flakiness, etc.). This, I'm sure, was in an effort to keep new parents from panicking at the site of any "abnormality."
Two things became clear to me:
1. Babies kind of look like slimy aliens and
2. No matter what you look like, I'm going to absolutely shower you with love and kisses and affection. Slimy alien body and all!
We practiced diapering, dressing and undressing, and bathing baby dolls. It's hard work!! I'm going to have to keep my nails very short so I don't worry about scratching you.
Your dad carried his baby doll like it was the most precious thing in the whole wide world. He was taking this very seriously!
We were asked to share one thing that our parents did that we loved and definitely want to pass on and one thing that we wanted to nip in the bud and not do with our own families. I shared that my mom (your grandma) made up a lullabye for each one of us. They were silly - and sometimes in French - and didn't rhyme...but they were ours. Your dad shared that his parents helped him with his homework every night.
The things we decided not to pass on were - separate dinner times with not much consistency (me) and having so many kids that the attention gets divided too many ways (your dad).
It's good to start thinking of this kind of stuff now - there's a lot that my family did growing up that I loved and some stuff that I wouldn't want to pass on. For example, I loved that we went skiing together every weekend and would come home, exhausted, to eat chili on the couch in front of the TV and a blazing fire. I didn't like how much tv I was allowed to watch as a kid. I would come home from school and watch TV until dinner was ready (several hours!)....and I can still watch too much TV if I'm not careful. I'd hope for a more active, more fulfilling use of after-school time for you.
We started out by looking at lots of slides of newborns and getting used to the normal characteristics of their bodies (rashes, spots, pimples, dry patches, flakiness, etc.). This, I'm sure, was in an effort to keep new parents from panicking at the site of any "abnormality."
Two things became clear to me:
1. Babies kind of look like slimy aliens and
2. No matter what you look like, I'm going to absolutely shower you with love and kisses and affection. Slimy alien body and all!
We practiced diapering, dressing and undressing, and bathing baby dolls. It's hard work!! I'm going to have to keep my nails very short so I don't worry about scratching you.
Your dad carried his baby doll like it was the most precious thing in the whole wide world. He was taking this very seriously!
We were asked to share one thing that our parents did that we loved and definitely want to pass on and one thing that we wanted to nip in the bud and not do with our own families. I shared that my mom (your grandma) made up a lullabye for each one of us. They were silly - and sometimes in French - and didn't rhyme...but they were ours. Your dad shared that his parents helped him with his homework every night.
The things we decided not to pass on were - separate dinner times with not much consistency (me) and having so many kids that the attention gets divided too many ways (your dad).
It's good to start thinking of this kind of stuff now - there's a lot that my family did growing up that I loved and some stuff that I wouldn't want to pass on. For example, I loved that we went skiing together every weekend and would come home, exhausted, to eat chili on the couch in front of the TV and a blazing fire. I didn't like how much tv I was allowed to watch as a kid. I would come home from school and watch TV until dinner was ready (several hours!)....and I can still watch too much TV if I'm not careful. I'd hope for a more active, more fulfilling use of after-school time for you.
posted by GirlRy @ 6:10 AM
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