Mama in the City

It turns out that I am a mother who feels embarrassed by the noises her child makes in public. You know the ones, the screeches of glee and hollers of protest all at a really high octave. Yep, my boy is a loud one and does not share the same social shame as I do while we walk the city and get stared down by anonymous walkers. It started when he was tiny with his persistent loud baby cry that would get my heart beating and my sweat pouring as I did everything to silent him all for the other people (cause I'm nice like that). Now, he has stopped that constant crying but has moved on to celebrating life loudly every moment he can (especially while strapped into his stroller).

My husband doesn't feel the same social shame that I do and seems quite relaxed with the baby screeches while out in public. At least Ben has one relaxed parent right? Yesterday a passerby gave 'the look' towards our loud boy while we strolled the streets. 'The look' is enough to make me feel incompetent and nervous but not my husband! He thought it was sort of funny and carried on. He also was the one to tell me this quote by Plato; "What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?"

It turns out that all that noise making can make a baby tired, especially if being carried up on Dad's shoulders. We had to pull out the iPhone to capture Ben falling asleep because it was his first time falling asleep in a funny position.