Before we had Maggie, we had pretty strong opinions about choices that we would or would not be making regarding being parents. More than once I have found myself doing things that I swore I would never, ever do with my own child.
Take the ExerSaucer for example, it is huge and ugly and takes up a substantial part of our smallish house. Guess who loves to rock out in it each morning? It was the same way with the swing. I thought that I wouldn’t want/need those Hunks of Junk, as we have affectionately been calling them, because we were going to be the parents that constantly held our baby and wouldn’t need a contraption to hold her.
And for the most part we do hold Maggie. In fact, if she is in a Hunk of Junk, we’re right down on the floor with her enjoying it. I remember seeing Barry lying under the swing when Mags was a teeny baby while she rocked above him. I’m not sure that our sweet, sweet child touched ground for a significant amount of time before her she was at least 5 months old.
What I didn’t take into account when I had my pre-parenting opinions, was that Maggie might want some time out of our arms, or I might want to take a shower, or even make some food. Tonight we turned a new page with a real high chair that arrived at our house. It is more aesthetically pleasing than the ExerSaucer and certainly serves more of a purpose. I typically wear Maggie or sit her on the ground near me when preparing foods or doing stuff in the kitchen, but tonight I loaded her in the high chair and she happily mashed a banana and played with some kitchen utensils.
She was able to keep an eye on the action at level that pleased her and I was able to swiftly complete my tasks: a win-win! So, as I eye the next Hunk of Junk or supposed ‘must have,’ instead of rolling my eyes and discounting it, I’m going to take into consideration what Maggie might think of it. Turns out we don’t always agree on everything.
