I observed something on Saturday that left me feeling sad. This is it. Take it how you want to.
Our family was eating at a restaurant. It's a pretty rare occurrence for us because we have four little kids and it never goes well when we eat out. But on Saturday we were seated near a group that consisted of a fashionably dressed mom and dad who had a baby (I'd say to be about five months old) and another couple with no children. They were seated at a table with four chairs surrounding it. The baby stayed in her carseat the whole time, being more or less ignored by the parents. She would fuss a little and they would not really acknowledge her.
She started getting hungry. She was fussing and sucking on her little hands. The parents just kept talking and laughing with each other. Finally the father got up and got an empty bottle from the diaper bag. He walked away from the table and I assumed he was going to fill it with water to mix with formula. As he was walking away, he passed a table where seated were some friends of his because he stopped to talk to them. The baby started crying more and more. Yet the father stood there at this table and laughed and talked with his buddies. I watched the mother who was still seated at their table and finally she started to at least jostle the car seat and shush the baby.
Her crying grew louder and louder. The father continued to chat with his friends, holding the empty bottle in his hand. He eventually said "Well I guess that's my cue" and left to get the bottle filled with water. By the time he returned to their table, the baby was screaming. She was starving. The mom quickly mixed the powder formula into the bottle and gave it to the infant. Never once did she pick up the baby to soothe her. Even as she drank her bottle, she remained in the carseat. And did I mention that bottle was propped up by a folded blanket as the baby drank? Yup, the mother didn't hold it. They were seated a table with ample room for her to comfortably hold the baby as she fed her. Cuddle with her. Make her feel better. They were done eating, just chatting so it's not like the mother needed her hand for feeding her own face. She never even picked the baby up.
The whole scene made me a little sick to my stomach.
Our family was eating at a restaurant. It's a pretty rare occurrence for us because we have four little kids and it never goes well when we eat out. But on Saturday we were seated near a group that consisted of a fashionably dressed mom and dad who had a baby (I'd say to be about five months old) and another couple with no children. They were seated at a table with four chairs surrounding it. The baby stayed in her carseat the whole time, being more or less ignored by the parents. She would fuss a little and they would not really acknowledge her.
She started getting hungry. She was fussing and sucking on her little hands. The parents just kept talking and laughing with each other. Finally the father got up and got an empty bottle from the diaper bag. He walked away from the table and I assumed he was going to fill it with water to mix with formula. As he was walking away, he passed a table where seated were some friends of his because he stopped to talk to them. The baby started crying more and more. Yet the father stood there at this table and laughed and talked with his buddies. I watched the mother who was still seated at their table and finally she started to at least jostle the car seat and shush the baby.
Her crying grew louder and louder. The father continued to chat with his friends, holding the empty bottle in his hand. He eventually said "Well I guess that's my cue" and left to get the bottle filled with water. By the time he returned to their table, the baby was screaming. She was starving. The mom quickly mixed the powder formula into the bottle and gave it to the infant. Never once did she pick up the baby to soothe her. Even as she drank her bottle, she remained in the carseat. And did I mention that bottle was propped up by a folded blanket as the baby drank? Yup, the mother didn't hold it. They were seated a table with ample room for her to comfortably hold the baby as she fed her. Cuddle with her. Make her feel better. They were done eating, just chatting so it's not like the mother needed her hand for feeding her own face. She never even picked the baby up.
The whole scene made me a little sick to my stomach.
2 comments:
Wow... Makes me wonder why they bothered having a kid, ya know? So sad...
That is just sickening! I thought everyone who had to take highschool psychology had to watch the horrible video on contact comfort. That is the one where they show the monkey with a real mother and the propped up bottle towel one. The monkey with the real mom is normal and the one with the proped up bottle is violent and can't get along with real monkeys. Then they proceed to tell you how children in orphanges that aren't held and touched have brain retardation and small testicles. I was traumatized by the video and vowed I'd always hold and love my kids. Then when I actually had a baby it was the most natural feeling to always want to hold it and love it. Those parents are idiots plain and simple. Why wouldn't you want the very best for your child in every way? Even if bottlefeeding was how they were going to feed the baby fine but, they should have held her for crying out loud! That chaps my hide! I am so mad at those parents for treating their daughter so coldly and with such contempt.
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