“In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners.” The Family: A Proclamation to the World
My son loves babies. Put a baby in the room and he’ll forget everything else.
Our neighbor had her first baby, whom we'll call Ian, shortly after she moved in next to us. We got to watch Ian grow up, which was especially fun for my son who formed a sweet bond with him.
He carried his fondness for babies over to his playtime as well. As much as he loved playing with his trucks, he also loved playing with his big sister's baby dolls.
His favorite was one whose clothes weren’t sewn on, probably because it was the only one not drenched in pink--he still had to maintain his boyish sensibilities I guess.
He named this doll “Baby Ian" and would carry him around the house, “playing father.” It was a good thing Baby Ian in our house was plastic, as he'd never have survived otherwise.
Eventually, Baby Ian was passed on to little sister and became part of her toy stash.
Now when you move every two years, some toys get pushed to the bottom of the toy box and resurface much later. Baby Ian was one of those.
A few weeks after our last move, our little one discovered Baby Ian and took him out for her play friend that day.
Baby Ian was getting some much-needed rest on the couch when my son got home from school. He saw it and gleefully shouted, “Baby Ian!” and scooped up the doll.
Of course my youngest wasn’t having that, “That’s my Baby Ian!”
She grabbed the doll out of his hands and stomped away.
But what my son said next melted my heart...
“Can I have a turn taking care of Baby Ian? Mommies and daddies share taking care of the babies, you know.”
Now what can you say to that...
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J. blogs at Cygnus Opus
