This Just In ...

By Jennifer Fischer, mother of little angel, Kyla

Since becoming a mom over seven months ago, I must admit my focus and observations when I am out in public have changed.  Now, I notice infant carriers (do they have the same Chico as I do?) clothing (that is ADORABLE, what a precious outfit!) and pacifiers (hmmm… she’s not using a clip and it’s going to get lost!).  I notice behaviors (could you please stop reading the magazine in the check out lane and realize your baby is hungry?) and parenting skills, or lack thereof (asking your child “Do you want a spanking?” rarely if ever yields a “Yes” response.)  In general, I notice children more everywhere I go.  I can compare it to when you get a new car.  Suddenly, the road is filled with the same make and model you recently purchased and you feel some sort of “owners bond.”   Of course, there is the unmistakable pride when a total stranger comes up to me and tells me what an adorable baby I have.  Really, can you look at that face and think otherwise?

Finally, I must admit that I enjoy the knowing glances between me and another mom, whether it is about a cry, a toy, or a “wait until they are older” moment of intuition.  To say that Kyla has changed every experience I have going out would be an understatement.  

Before Kyla was born, I could be “out and about” anywhere, from a coffee shop to a mall and I didn’t always observe the kids around me.  Admittedly the only time one really grabbed my attention is when they were incredibly cute or unbelievably naughty.  (Of course the unbelievably naughty child would illicit a silent comment from me:  “Oh, not when I have a child!”)  

Perhaps it is because Kevin and I have been to Disney World almost 20 times but children in any setting just don’t phase me.  I suppose I have never expected to see them at any of the Bartolotta restaurants when we celebrate our special occasions.  But if Bacchus was in Orlando you can bet that right next to your table full of Riedel stemware there would be a table full of sippy cups.

I plan on raising Kyla the same way I was raised:  that she will be a joy to be around, that adults will want the pleasure of her pint-sized company, and that she will be as comfortable and well-behaved at a McDonald’s Playland as she is when I take her to Watts Tea Shop for children’s afternoon tea.

Will there be times when we are out and she decides to act up?  Of course.  We’re not raising a Stepford child.  But these will be learning experiences for both of us, and will probably end up with a few tears being shed by one or both parties.

Having said all of this, I would like to politely suggest that Toni Kendrick is full of crapola.  Her notion that children shouldn’t accompany Mommy to Starbucks  is a snobby, caffeine-craving reaction to a few crumbs on the floor and a squawk emitted from a stroller.  

I have always believed that children are “little people.”  This means that they have a place in the world, they deserve respect, they deserve to be heard, and they have a right to exist – anywhere.  (I’m willing to be that Toni was even a child herself at one time!)  And, really, who the heck is Toni Kendrick????!!!!  Does she not realize that those tot-toting, latte-sipping, Coach diaper bag-carrying, SUV-driving mommies are what keep those high-end, $5.00-caffeine-jolt java joints in business????!!!!  Sorry, Toni, it ain’t the ramen-eating, ripped-jean wearin’ starving college student (An article from Time can provide the demographics). 

Toni, someday the toddler you gripe about for dripping her milk at your precious Starbucks will be your surgeon, your stockbroker, your real estate agent.  At that point, I hope she doesn’t look down her nose at you for something you do that SHE finds offensive.