Cry Babies

Crying children scare me. They almost ruin it for us aspiring moms — even for me, the sappiest of them all.

My husband and I were doing errands over the weekend, and we stopped to grab some lunch in a cute restaurant that had a chocolate theme. There we were, minding our own business, having a pleasant meal, chatting about work, and then, out of nowhere came the cry. We ignored it — it was no big deal. Happens all the time. Someone will make it stop soon. But it didn't. It kept going. We kept talking, eating, pretending not to hear. Then the crying got even louder. It wouldn't let up.

"Someone is torturing that child," my husband said.

"It seriously sounds that way. We're in a chocolate restaurant — what more could he want?" I asked, actually feeling sort of glad that we didn't have a baby right then.

Yes, I was feeling pleased that we were able to eat our meal without having to feed a screaming baby simultaneously — pleased that we were free to wander around in the afternoon without worrying about a baby's eating schedule or nap schedule, or anything else other than our own agenda.

Does that mean I'm not ready to be a mom? It's times like those that I wonder — just a tiny bit. Am I ready to be that pain-in-the-neck parent with the stroller that won't fit at the table at the restaurant with the crying child I can't get to be quiet? Sometimes the mom with the screaming kid is clueless and doesn't care that little Johnny is out of control, but a lot of the time, the mom is really trying hard to make little Johnny be quiet. But she can't — because sometimes you just CAN'T get the kid to stop crying.

Eventually, the child at the restaurant today did stop crying. I'm not sure when, but I know he wasn't crying when we left. I guess they can't cry all the time. And everyone says that you feel differently when it's your own child. So I'm banking on that. I mean, really, who am I kidding? I'd take a crying baby over no baby any day, as long as it's mine.