There’s an old saying, be careful not to throw out the baby with the bathwater. That’s because in olden times, everyone bathed in the same tub, with the infant being the last. By then the water was so dirty it was difficult to see the child before the tub was emptied.
Babies are necessary for the continuation of the species but can prove to be a bother in some people’s lives. Before, mummy was carefree and happy go lucky, but now with the crying bawling, everlastingly hungry baby, her life has changed forever. She wants to recapture the freedom that she once had and dismiss the baggage.
Some young mothers can’t manage this infant ball and chain and pass on the ‘little bundle of joy,’ the enfant terrible, as the French say, unto the grandmother, who now has the onerous and challenging task of raising that child.
We often see young women in their twenties laden with five or six children. Yes, those mothers love their babies, but also often see them as a bother in their lives. “If I never have them I would be better off with my life. I can’t get any work because of them.”
Even in the best of homes where a challenging economic situation isn’t the issue, babies can prove to be a millstone. There they are, a happy married couple, bent on advancing their careers or education, when suddenly the wife says, “Babes, I’m pregnant.” “Say what, but I thought we had planned to wait a few years?”
Many men weren’t all that pleased when they heard that their spouse became pregnant, because as far as they were concerned, the timing wasn’t right.
The problems occur because their lives are now turned upside down, topsy turvy, a maelstrom of misery, a barrel of bedlam. No longer can he come and go as he pleases, and for certain the mother is now tied to that baby for many years to come. Life as she knew it before is now over.
“I can’t do a thing as the kids tie me down.” “I don’t want any woman with too many children as I can’t take the crosses.”
That baby has to be fed, and formula can prove to be expensive. So are the Pampers that often have to be bought by the case.
Now some babies are deemed good, and sleep through the night from they are three months old, sometimes earlier. But there are also some little horrors who cry incessantly at the top of their lungs, from dusk til dawn, refusing to sleep except for an hour or two before they reprise the caterwauling.
That’s why there are always signs in theatres or cinemas asking people to take their crying infants outside so as not to disturb other patrons.
Then there are the doctor visits, for even healthy babies require postnatal care which can be expensive. Not to mention the huge expenses if the baby has any medical issues.
But even with this baby hindrance, people still keep on having them, for the species has to continue.
Is there always a baby challenge? Perhaps, although that isn’t necessarily negative, but rather a situation where many people have to adjust to a new normal.
“Norman, you can’t go to the bar as much as you used to now that the baby is here.” “Yes Babes, I’ll gladly give that up.”
Babies can be a blessing, and even if it’s unplanned, as the cliché goes, when that child is born it can bring such joy and happiness to the family and friends. The daddies are proud, the mothers are beaming, the grandparents are ecstatic.
But whatever you do, make sure that you don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater.
