This is an open apology
to Isaac & Seth Galena.
All of your friends and
family and many of the bangitout.com readers know how much I have
complained about your crying and howling when you were babies (Ok, I guess
now they do).
Well, now I’m sitting in
an Infant Feeding Scales training course and I’m learning the there are 76
potent and subtle disengagement cues that infants perform before they
actually start to cry. I was obviously oblivious to all 76. I am so
sorry.
Imagine if I would have
spotted your oblique lateral turn or your forceful table top pounding,
alerting me to your dissatisfaction with your environment (TV was off).
Earlier moves on my part might have saved my hearing (Re: Seth and Isaac's
Grandmother). I do blame my hearing loss on your high caliber squeals,
your overbearing shrieks. No, it’s all my fault. If I had been aware of
your diverted gazes, your shaking heads, I might have been able to spend
more than 3 minutes inside the library and chosen reading material which
would allow me to discuss more than diaper service and baby rashes. If
only knowledge of these cues were available to the public, your
grandparents might have even volunteered to spend some time alone with you
and actually figured out who was who (to this day everyone calls them "The
Boys").
Imagine if I could have
warned baby sitters about potent and subtle disengagement cues- we might
have been able to see an entire movie instead of being paged out of movie
theaters by frantic sitters who couldn't take the cries of the infamous
Isaac and Seth. A babysitter's nightmare.
I might have been able to
walk to a shul, shop for clothes, shop for more than Breyer’s ice cream in
the supermarket ( I had to prioritize, 10 items or less line is always
essential). We might have been welcomed into homes. We could have stayed
in restaurants beyond the appetizers. Think of all the gas we would have
saved by not having to drive you around for hours until you feel asleep.
I’m also thinking of money we might have been able to save on water bills-
all those showers I took to block out your wails just to preserve my
mental health.
Seventy six cues to
impending crying and as parents we missed them all.
Love, MOM - rlourie1@aol.com
