The one about the written warning

Our little Reed is getting quite mobile.  He likes to use anything that slides as a “walker.” For example: he’ll push around the kitchen chairs or dining chairs, a basket, our leather storage cubes … etc.  If it slides on the floor then it instantly becomes a walker.  Recently he has begun standing on his own as well. He doesn’t realize he’s doing it, I don’t think.  He will be holding onto something and then get distracted by something else and suddenly forget to hold on.  I love watching him stand.  However, I have loved watching him learn anything new at every step along the way! 

Have I mentioned he’s obsessed with wheels? He loves wheels. The wheels on his little trains and cars, the wheels on his stroller, the wheels on cars, bikes, anything, he doesn’t discriminate. He loves wheels.   His little brow creases as he concentrates on spinning the tiny wheel of his train with his index finger. 

And what is the deal with babies and plastic? Literally all my life I’ve found the warnings “Keep away from children. This bag is not a toy” ridiculous! I would think, “of course it’s not a toy? Who would let a baby play with a plastic bag? What an absurd notion!”  I know you’ve seen the same warnings, maybe unpacking your new coffee maker, and perhaps even like me, you’ve examined the bag with a suspecting eye.  Did somebody, somewhere really think this was a toy and give it to their child to play with?   They must have because I don’t think they just make these warnings up for fun!  

As a new mom I suddenly see, at least fundamentally, the need for these warnings!  Reed loves plastic! You can’t keep him away from it. He has to crinkle it in his hands, try to pull it apart, taste it, and smash it against things.  The sound of it is music to his ears!  I now realize why so many toys have that crinkle stuff sewn into the fabric.  Some genius out there was trying to satiate a baby’s craving for plastic. Au contraire, monsieur.  Try giving diet Mt Dew to my husband and you’ll come up with the same results.   Reed needs the real deal.  And, by the way, even though I now understand the baby’s interest in plastic, I still think the need for the printed warning on the plastic protecting my new small-appliances inside their boxes is outlandish.  Come on, give us parents some credit!