Phillip had a rough afternoon recently, and though I did my best to cheer him up, the thing that seemed to help him most was spending some time with Baby Daniel. Mere moments after Phillip picked him up, his cares seemed to melt away and the two were smiling and laughing together.
I’ve noticed that babies often have that effect on people. Pedestrians who barely make eye contact with me will smile and possibly even stop to talk to my kids. I do the same thing with other people’s babies and toddlers, but I can’t quite put my finger on the reason why I feel so comfortable interacting with young children, but often so uncomfortable connecting with their parents. Perhaps it is because children are simpler. You don’t have to read between the lines with them, or sift through small talk long enough to find a common interest. You just have to be friendly and they are usually friendly back.
Interaction with children may also be more comfortable because they are non-threatening. They don’t categorize or judge you. Kids don’t rate people as better or worse than them; they either play with you or ignore you, but they never reject you. You’re free to be yourself around them, because all they really care about is whether you’re warm and cheerful, as well. I suppose that's one reason the Lord told us to be childlike. It would be a much gentler world if we cared more about whether a person was good and kind than whether they were better, worse, or different from us.
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Exactly!
I remember when my oldest was a baby, we had a neighbor that we loved dearly for the way she treated him like a grandmother. Her lifestyle wasn't exactly OUR lifestyle, but she was so kind to us. She had an adult son who was also very nice, but a total wild child.
One day I was over talking to our neighbor while I held my baby. Her son started interacting with him just like you say--smiling, baby talking, peek-a-booing, etc. The son caught me watching and suddenly straightened and looked at me a bit sheepishly, though we are very nearly the same age. He shrugged and said, "I bet he is wondering who is this strange guy covered in body paint and with all this metal in his face."
I smiled and said, "No, he is thinking he's found a new friend."
The interaction taught me precisely what you blogged about here, but it also taught me something else: babies remind us about what is best and most innocent about ourselves too. My neighbor's son probably knew at some level that his appearance, with his multiple piercings and tattoos, went against some kind of purity-standard he knew little about. My little Jedi reminded him who he really was without saying a word.
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