Look, Don't Touch
Steven and I are getting ready to do a bit of an overhaul in our kitchen - and so in preparation for that, Annie and I took a trip to Lowe's this afternoon to scout out a few things.
Annie sits in the shopping cart now, instead of being hidden in her carrier - so she gets noticed a lot more. She was the star of Lowe's today. Every single person we walked by.. male and female alike admired my beautiful girl. And of course she ate it up and smiled and talked right back.
I decided to get some new hardware for my newly painted bathroom vanity and so once we were finished looking at everything, we went to checkout. The lady at the register immediately started ooh-ing and aaah-ing at Annie. She said hi to her and asked me what her name was... and was super friendly. As most mothers would probably agree - I love when people compliment my baby. I think she is the most beautiful thing ever... and so of course I smile when outsiders acknowledge the same. So, I don't mind when people smile and talk to Annie and compliment me on her. However, in a split moment this cashier's friendly gestures crossed a line. She walks around to my cart and started touching her. She touched her arms and then.. (gasp) her hands. Now, for those of you who arent parents and don't understand why this is a big deal... babies put their hands in their mouths. Cashiers touch nasty money, dirty Lowe's merchandise, their noses, their mouths, the cash register, and who knows what else. So when a cashier - or anyone, for that matter, touches your baby's hands - whatever yuck is on their hands will soon enter your baby's mouth. When i see this start to happen I reach over and hold Annie's hands while I continue to talk to the Cashier (so she can't touch them).
Finally the cashier walks back around and rings me up. As I'm getting my card out to pay, she comes back around to my cart, grabs Annie's little arms.. and (get ready) gets in her face. Like, I thought she was going to kiss her on the mouth... close to her face. She's talking to her and putting her nose on my baby's nose. I start to panic a little bit and quickly say "So how much do I owe you?" which breaks her fixation on my baby and sends her back around to her station so I can pay.
As I'm sliding my card... oh yes, it happens a third time... she comes back around (now, at this point as you may have noticed, I pick up that something is a little off key with this cashier, so I am a little more understanding of her behavior and am trying to smile and be polite ... and hurry up and get the heck out of there). This time, a neighboring cashier notices that Annie is wearing an amber teething necklace so she comes over to ask about it, since she has a 6mo old herself. While I'm talking to the neighboring cashier, I'm trying to keep a close eye on what's going on with my cashier and Annie. All of a sudden.. I look up... and.... I can hardly say it. She is about to stick her finger.... in.. my.... daughter's... mouth. IN HER MOUTH for crying out loud. And have I mentioned... that her fingers have all sorts of cuts on them?!? In a moment of horror (imagine this in slow motion), I turn... my mouth falls open... I take a step and start to lunge my body towards her while reaching up to slap her hand away from my sweet baby. However... before I reach her - her superior notices what is happening, calls her by name - which disrupts her trans and shakes her head as to say "DONT YOU DARE." My eyes are still wide open and my body is in mid plunge... and so I have to quickly apply my brakes to stop myself from what I was about to do to this cashier. I can only imagine the look on my face as I stand there trying to process what just happened. I think to myself, "this has to be a dream. I must be in a dream." And so I shake my head a little to realize that I am in fact, in real time. As I look over, her superior is looking at me with a very apologetic face... so I acknowledge the glance, thank the cashier, and book it out of there. Once I've cleared the door I wipe Annie's hands and face down and hurry to the car. Before I could reach the car we are stopped by an oriental lady and her two daughters who admire Annie from a distance. And for that I am thankful.
The lesson here? When you admire someone's baby - look. dont touch. As tempting as it is to pinch those chubby little cheeks or rub their little bald heads, don't touch a stranger's baby. In fact, you probably shouldn't touch anyone's baby unless you've been given permission or have a relationship with them. And I don't care who it is... if it's not your child.. never, ever ever ever ever put your finger in a baby's mouth. Ever.
(Note: the cashier's finger never made it into my daughter's mouth thankfully... but it was millimeters away.)
Annie sits in the shopping cart now, instead of being hidden in her carrier - so she gets noticed a lot more. She was the star of Lowe's today. Every single person we walked by.. male and female alike admired my beautiful girl. And of course she ate it up and smiled and talked right back.
I decided to get some new hardware for my newly painted bathroom vanity and so once we were finished looking at everything, we went to checkout. The lady at the register immediately started ooh-ing and aaah-ing at Annie. She said hi to her and asked me what her name was... and was super friendly. As most mothers would probably agree - I love when people compliment my baby. I think she is the most beautiful thing ever... and so of course I smile when outsiders acknowledge the same. So, I don't mind when people smile and talk to Annie and compliment me on her. However, in a split moment this cashier's friendly gestures crossed a line. She walks around to my cart and started touching her. She touched her arms and then.. (gasp) her hands. Now, for those of you who arent parents and don't understand why this is a big deal... babies put their hands in their mouths. Cashiers touch nasty money, dirty Lowe's merchandise, their noses, their mouths, the cash register, and who knows what else. So when a cashier - or anyone, for that matter, touches your baby's hands - whatever yuck is on their hands will soon enter your baby's mouth. When i see this start to happen I reach over and hold Annie's hands while I continue to talk to the Cashier (so she can't touch them).
Finally the cashier walks back around and rings me up. As I'm getting my card out to pay, she comes back around to my cart, grabs Annie's little arms.. and (get ready) gets in her face. Like, I thought she was going to kiss her on the mouth... close to her face. She's talking to her and putting her nose on my baby's nose. I start to panic a little bit and quickly say "So how much do I owe you?" which breaks her fixation on my baby and sends her back around to her station so I can pay.
As I'm sliding my card... oh yes, it happens a third time... she comes back around (now, at this point as you may have noticed, I pick up that something is a little off key with this cashier, so I am a little more understanding of her behavior and am trying to smile and be polite ... and hurry up and get the heck out of there). This time, a neighboring cashier notices that Annie is wearing an amber teething necklace so she comes over to ask about it, since she has a 6mo old herself. While I'm talking to the neighboring cashier, I'm trying to keep a close eye on what's going on with my cashier and Annie. All of a sudden.. I look up... and.... I can hardly say it. She is about to stick her finger.... in.. my.... daughter's... mouth. IN HER MOUTH for crying out loud. And have I mentioned... that her fingers have all sorts of cuts on them?!? In a moment of horror (imagine this in slow motion), I turn... my mouth falls open... I take a step and start to lunge my body towards her while reaching up to slap her hand away from my sweet baby. However... before I reach her - her superior notices what is happening, calls her by name - which disrupts her trans and shakes her head as to say "DONT YOU DARE." My eyes are still wide open and my body is in mid plunge... and so I have to quickly apply my brakes to stop myself from what I was about to do to this cashier. I can only imagine the look on my face as I stand there trying to process what just happened. I think to myself, "this has to be a dream. I must be in a dream." And so I shake my head a little to realize that I am in fact, in real time. As I look over, her superior is looking at me with a very apologetic face... so I acknowledge the glance, thank the cashier, and book it out of there. Once I've cleared the door I wipe Annie's hands and face down and hurry to the car. Before I could reach the car we are stopped by an oriental lady and her two daughters who admire Annie from a distance. And for that I am thankful.
The lesson here? When you admire someone's baby - look. dont touch. As tempting as it is to pinch those chubby little cheeks or rub their little bald heads, don't touch a stranger's baby. In fact, you probably shouldn't touch anyone's baby unless you've been given permission or have a relationship with them. And I don't care who it is... if it's not your child.. never, ever ever ever ever put your finger in a baby's mouth. Ever.
(Note: the cashier's finger never made it into my daughter's mouth thankfully... but it was millimeters away.)
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