Amid all the sacrifices we make as parents – the worry! the lack of sleep! the expense! the barf! - there are quite a few little perks that more than compensate us for our troubles. Not the least of which is laughing at our own kid.
Sure, we all think it’s sweet to laugh when little Jack wears underpants on his head or little Jill dashes through the house stark naked. But occasionally it’s just more fun to outright make fun of them.
For example, when The Esposo and I are particularly giddy, say, at hour 4.3 of a 6.5-hour drive, we like to mock Peapod for being a baby.
I know. We’re jerks. But just stay with me for a second and you’ll see that no harm is done to the actual baby.
The key is to select a time when the adults need a little levity, but when the child is happy-go-lucky and won’t burst into tears. Like when she’s way too young to understand you, or when she’s sleeping. Or in college. Then, when you’ve identified that moment of opportunity, you can mock away, saying things in that annoying drawn-out baby-talk like “OOOooooohh, Whattaya gonna do? Cry like a little baaaabyyy? Waa waaa waaa!” Or, “Awwww! Look at the little baby! I’m such a baby! I drool and I poop in my own pants!”
I’m serious. This may not translate at all in print, but I’m telling you, you must try it. It really is very rewarding to make fun of a baby for being a baby. And if the right moment is selected, the child has no idea what you are saying and does not care one iota. She either looks at you like you’ve got ten heads, or keeps right on sleeping while you and your partner-in-crime dissolve into a fit of giggles.
I recognize that our window of opportunity for such mockery has probably drawn to a close. But it was fun while it lasted, even though I’m sure it will eventually all come back to bite me square in the hiney. I suppose when that time comes, I’ll just cry like a baby.
Waa waa waa.
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