Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Not a baby anymore

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Lately, Josh and I have been experiencing a new phenomenon.  Instead of hearing "oh your baby is sooo cute" we receive scowls, even when Carson is behaving.  The other day we went out to lunch and Carson was an angel.  Depending on how much sleep he had gotten either the night before or during nap time, he can sometimes be a little bit of an embarrassment.  During this lunch, however, he was contently playing and staying fairly quiet, for Carson at least. Josh and I were sitting there amazed at how good he was being.  Yet we still received scowls.  A couple was leaving and walked by Carson and he turned and waved and said "bye bye" in his sweet little voice.  Josh and I were gushing about how cute he was and the couple looked at him, gave him a funny look, and just kept walking.  Our jaws dropped.  How could they not wave back!  He isn't a prison escapee, he's a little boy!  Anyway, we've been getting more and more of these responses while out and about.  When Carson is happy and babbling away, we get looks that seem to say shut that child up. If he was five years old, those looks might be warranted, but the response we mumble to each other is usually.. "he's not even two yet for goodness sakes."  I guess it's the new stage we are entering.  We also believe it's aggravated by the fact that Carson looks older than he is.  At least, that mind set is what gives us peace.  More likely, it's the fact that our society is still not very accepting of little children and their tendencies to be very energetic and loud, even when happy.  Which kind of seems crazy when you think about it because most of the people we come across were parents of a small child at one time.  Maybe they forgot their children were like that once too? 

These new experiences are also making me realize that I cannot protect Carson from everything.  As the couple at the restaurant scowled and walked away, I wanted to get Carson's attention so he wouldn't pick up on their rejection.  Then it dawned on me that this is just the beginning of scowls, nasty looks, and bad attitudes he's going to have to experience in life.  Thankfully he is in a family that loves him dearly and will love him for the rest of time, no matter how loud or rambunctious he is.


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