Feeling Unpopular? Have a Baby.

Are you feeling neglected and unpopular? Seriously, have a baby. It will restore your faith in FC humanity. Now, maybe I'm just a particularly cute and charming looking mother, but I- I mean, my baby- get so many loving, admiring glances while we're out. I "wear" him a lot in his sling, so maybe people think he's brand new or something. Really, the sling is so no one can get near him and breathe on him. Plus, I love to have his warm little body close.
In any case, people are ridiculously nice to us. Yesterday in Super Stop and Shop, I was wearing him in his Bjorn (far inferior in comfort to the Moby wrap, but easier to put on), and bending over to take items out of my cart. It was pretty cumbersome. A nice old lady must have thought I was going to drop Baby Q on his head, because she insisted on unloading my cart for me.
The checkout lady and the grocery bagger both smiled and cooed at me- I mean, my baby- and were really sweet, saying hi to us- I mean, him, and asking us- I mean, him- how old we were. (Almost 3 months!)
People, including me, are just suckers for babies. It's really sweet. You have to wonder why we can't be nicer to each other, if we are able to be so lovely with babies!

One of the nice things about a baby is that it forces you to slow down. A trip to the mall and grocery store takes twice as long, because at some point, you have to change a diaper or two (in the car) or feed the baby (which I also do in the car because mine has comfy seats). You just can't rush putting a baby in and out of a carseat, or unloading groceries while wearing a baby. You just have to accept that you are slow as a turtle, and that feels really good to me. It's like I'm living in the South again!

Now, the flip side of being that popular is that if you ARE in a hurry, you have to beat people off with sticks to keep them from talking to you and wanting to look at your baby and asking you how old he is and, of course, telling you to "enjoy every minute." Everyone says that to me. I'd say it's annoying, but it's actually a helpful reminder!