This morning I found myself holding someone else’s baby at a photography studio. I was there with Max for his 1-year portraits (which turned out, just not as out as I expected). The open room seemed to be saturated in babies. There were infants and toddlers and in-betweeners moving and wiggling and crying. I am not far out of the infant-in-arms stage, so when one mother looked so overwhelmed trying to pry her toddler into a new dress while her baby screamed in his car seat carrier, I offered to help. Max was busy with the Lego table and a Barney board book he found on a waiting room table, so I was able to keep an eye on him and bounce her 4-month-old for a minute or two.
Bouncing, swaying, and shhh-ing calmed baby Jackson. And his mother was able to dress Big Sister in something wonderfully green for their pictures. I met the mother’s eyes when I handed Jackson back, and I recognized her look. She was tired and overwhelmed. I quite often feel this way too, so helping a mother in a similar situation is something I’d gladly do, over and over again. I try hard to steer clear of offering unsolicited advice to mothers. (I’m not really a fan myself.) I am not an expert, just a decent juggler. And mothering is a job you really have to learn from experience since no two babies respond in the same way. So I told her how beautiful her babies are, and I sincerely wished her luck with an understanding hand on her shoulder.
This is the Golden Rule in action, isn’t it? Do unto others as you would have done unto you. What a simple rule to follow that is so easy to forget.
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