I ran into a friend the other day who was nursing her new baby. Her elementary school-age son was across the table from her and full of questions regarding wet nurses. It seems that the boy had been wondering why his other parent (also a woman) had not also been nursing the new baby. Apparently a full explanation had not been forthcoming.
12 thoughts on “Modern child rearing challenges”
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Two woman parents is a biological impossibility.
The boy is too young to understand the value of Operator Overloading 🙂
But not a legal impossibility!
Maybe, in the less modern world, the boy would have been just as curious about why his father wasn’t nursing the baby.
Mike,
It’s only a biological impossibility if your definition of parent excludes those, of which there are many, that didn’t sire or give birth to the child.
Mitch illuminated the sloppy thinking regarding the original post.
S
Humans are born with curiosity and the desire to learn, especially children, otherwise we would still be walking on 4 feet rumbling in the wild. It’s a parent’s responsibility to balance children’s curiosity with age related answers: this is what makes us human.
@Steve:
Good thing the political correctness police were on hand to jump on Mike’s comment, or else some of Phil’s denser readers might not have noticed his bantering tone and committed the thoughtcrime of imagining that homosexuals can’t conceive children together, or can’t fill the two distinct parental roles.
If man was meant to fly then, he would have had wings.
Steve. By your logic one of the parents could have been a horse and the child should not have noticed anything suspicious.
Maybe the elementary child had been recently weaned? my own school age children had little interest in the whys and hows of their nursing brother, even though overall they were extremely inquisitive children (IMAO), other than when I would be done with the feeding so we could depart, move, have lunch, etc.. I do believe at some point they were provided an explanation as to why their father couldn’t nurse the baby (any more than give birth), but by elementary school their interests lay elsewhere. This boy is destined for greatness (MD-Phd for sure!):-).
In my experience, small children are often very matter of fact. I wouldn’t be surprised if Suzanne’s explanation was basically “Daddies can’t feed babies, only Mommies can,” and if her other children’s response was equivalent to “Seems simple enough. I’ll be playing with a bunch of toys. Please inform me of my next opportunity to eat cookies or candy.”
Presidentpicker,
Again, sloppy thinking. You’re assuming that the boy noticed something “suspicious.” Mitch alluded to this as well.
S