What I learned on my vacation--Day 1

When I was in the novitiate my mother's best friend, Rosemary, had a baby. What was unique about this was that no one in their crowd of 8-10 couples had a child under 10, and most had teenagers. At that time such an event was called "a change of life" baby! What I still remember about it was how Rosemary regaled her "girl friends" with stories of how much the whole pregnancy and birth experience had changed since they had all had their children in the late 40s through late 50s.

On my first day of vacation this week I had a similar experience with a visit from a young couple with a two month old. What a difference from the last time I was around an infant for a day! Here are the top 3 things I learned:

1) Diapers are baby litmus tests! Did you know that diapers have a yellow line on the outside of them which changes color depending on what's "happened" inside? Our little visitor's turned "blue" about 4 times that afternoon.

2) Baby and Child Care by Dr. Benjamin Spock is no longer the "bible" for mothers. It has been replaced by Mom blogs. Thousands of mothers are posting their experiences of raising children and sharing helpful hints with new Moms online daily. Our new Mom consults them all the time, but did add that for medical questions she goes directly to her physician.

3) Strollers, car seats and rocking chairs are the same thing. The car seat, when lifted out, fits into the frame of the stroller and when brought inside, sits on the floor or table and rocks the infant when pushed. What a deal! And the stroller itself is like a portable camping tent, complete with cover flap that you can see through, yet keeps the sun out.

On the other hand, the paraphernalia available for infants has reached volcanic proportions: i.e. the diaper bag has been replaced by a suitcase-sized tote. Such a disappointment to the new parents when their baby still chooses the empty box and kitchen pans as his/her favorite toy!

"Toto, we're not in Erie anymore!"