Revisionism

Last week, I joined four other women and their babies (one is still in utero) as show-and-tell for a Human Growth and Development class at Centenary. We began by telling a little about ourselves . . . pregnancy, birth, and post-birth. Since I was last and the other women had already introduced the subjects of natural childbirth and breastfeeding, I quickly told my labor story and then improvised some comments about how amazed and pleased I was at the automatic and powerfully natural love I felt for Noel immediately upon his birth.

The comments went something like this: "I was never a baby person before, never babysat, never had those oogly eyes some women especially just have for babies. Of course, I was excited that our baby was on the way, but I still didn't feel any particular bonding with Noel while he was in the womb. But when Noel appeared in the world, I felt a complete love for him that I cannot explain except that this is how God makes mothers."

But that's not what the class heard.

I saw the professor the other day, and she said that the written reports the students submitted after our visit expressed much concern for baby Noel. They heard the first clause: "I was never a baby person before," at which point I noticed a collective dropping of heads, each student writing that down in the class notes. But they quit listening at that point and apparently presumed I meant, "I was never a baby person before, and I'm still not, and I'm thinking of leaving Noel out in the snow to fend for himself."

Good thing we don't have snow around here. Good night, Irene.