“Look!” my husband said.
“What?!” I screamed back. By the sound of his voice, I thought my baby had a lobster crawl out of his ear.
“He took a step,” my husband said.
“That's nice,” I said.
Incredulous, my husband, “it's like he started walking.”
“No he didn't,” I sniffed. “Walking is putting one foot in front of the other more than once.”
Now, it's not that I'm dismissing my baby's accomplishments. I just prefer to not recognize these milestones if I don't see them directly. My denial capabilities are epic — I have been pretending that the election season has been over for weeks and it has worked quite nicely.
The thing of it is, I just can't bear to accept the fact that my little boy is growing up, and that he will be having first moments with people other than me. It stirs up the guilt of not being with him at home, like I wish I could be.
So I have turned to situational denial to assuage my fears.
“I know he hasn't started walking, but he's sooo close,” my husband said.
At 10 months, my son is standing — albeit wobbly — and will take a step to bridge between two objects. He has one tooth in his head and, by the looks of it, I better start saving up for orthodontics starting with next week's paycheck.
But the milestones are coming fast and furious now. He is on the cusp of being fully mobile, eating everything we eat and speaking his first word. It's exhilarating to watch, but it is all happening too fast and I wish I could slow time down just a bit to savor each moment with him.
It feels like I'm going to come home from work tomorrow and he's going to ask to borrow the car to take his girlfriend to the movies.
The best I can do is pretend that his “first moments” when I'm with him are the real ones, so I can remember his childhood guilt-free. Or I can just keep having babies to keep reliving and relishing their infancy. … Yeah, denial is way easier.
— Sarah Leach is assistant managing editor of The Holland Sentinel. Contact her at (616) 546-4278 or sarah.leach@hollandsentinel.com.
“What?!” I screamed back. By the sound of his voice, I thought my baby had a lobster crawl out of his ear.
“He took a step,” my husband said.
“That's nice,” I said.
Incredulous, my husband, “it's like he started walking.”
“No he didn't,” I sniffed. “Walking is putting one foot in front of the other more than once.”
Now, it's not that I'm dismissing my baby's accomplishments. I just prefer to not recognize these milestones if I don't see them directly. My denial capabilities are epic — I have been pretending that the election season has been over for weeks and it has worked quite nicely.
The thing of it is, I just can't bear to accept the fact that my little boy is growing up, and that he will be having first moments with people other than me. It stirs up the guilt of not being with him at home, like I wish I could be.
So I have turned to situational denial to assuage my fears.
“I know he hasn't started walking, but he's sooo close,” my husband said.
At 10 months, my son is standing — albeit wobbly — and will take a step to bridge between two objects. He has one tooth in his head and, by the looks of it, I better start saving up for orthodontics starting with next week's paycheck.
But the milestones are coming fast and furious now. He is on the cusp of being fully mobile, eating everything we eat and speaking his first word. It's exhilarating to watch, but it is all happening too fast and I wish I could slow time down just a bit to savor each moment with him.
It feels like I'm going to come home from work tomorrow and he's going to ask to borrow the car to take his girlfriend to the movies.
The best I can do is pretend that his “first moments” when I'm with him are the real ones, so I can remember his childhood guilt-free. Or I can just keep having babies to keep reliving and relishing their infancy. … Yeah, denial is way easier.
— Sarah Leach is assistant managing editor of The Holland Sentinel. Contact her at (616) 546-4278 or sarah.leach@hollandsentinel.com.
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