Humbling moments in parenting

February 6, 2008 @ 9:29 am

Harry started to crawl last week. (Can I get a “woo-hoo” for early development, please? Thank you.) I have been looking forward to this with eager anticipation and a bit of dread (can we say, baby proofing?) and it has proved to be all I thought it would. In our house, there is a long hallway off of which are all of the main rooms: 3 bedrooms, my office, the bathroom and the kitchen. When we moved in, 2 weeks before Harry was born, I had visions of him crawling up and down the hall with me and hubby playing hide and seek in the doorways. We used to do the same with our older cat and it was great fun. What better incentive to get him to move than a playful parental unit calling out “come and get me!” He’d come catch me and we’d laugh and I’d reflect on the joys of babyhood. (Cue sappy music here.)

This morning, I put Harry at the end of the hall and hid in the doorway of the guest room. He smiled when I peeked out at him from the doorway. He continued to smile each time I repeated the action, but he made no move. About the third time I did it, he moved, but it was to make a 90 degree turn away from me and towards my filthy shoes under the hall table. When I looked again, he had completed a 180 and was headed for the wire cat toy on the floor behind him. So much for expectations! He’s had enough of me, on to forbidden (and delicious, apparently) objects!

We really need to clean the house.