When in Rome...
6/17/10
…. squeeze other people’s babies. I had always heard that the Italians LOVE children, but never having had an available child when I backpacked through in my early twenties, I was not able to experience the love first hand. Let me tell you: It’s true.
We packed everything for the one-hour flight, including the awful Munich weather. (April showers bring ... May and June showers? Something is obviously lost in translation.) So we napped all afternoon, and when it was still thunderstorming into the early evening, we decided to eat dinner at the hotel.
Our spring trip to an all-inclusive hotel in the Canary Islands had full seating for a 6:30 dinner. But real Romans were still napping at that un-multiple-godly hour, and there was only one other couple in the dining room. (Remember when eating that early was: So. Lame.?)
We sideled the stroller up to the table. We ordered our appetizer and glass of wine. All of the waitstaff come by to give Baby Y a little foot tickle and tell us about their kids. Halfway through our stuffed artichoke blossoms, our waiter asks if he could show off Baby Y to the kitchen staff so that we could eat without having to take turns. I’m not sure he waited for us to respond before scooping him away and making the rounds. Baby Y soon became promoted to host assistant and greeted the new diners.
It was like that everywhere. I had to change his diaper in a public bathroom, and the toilette lady grabbed him out of my hands before halfway to the diaper station. I took Baby Y with me into the hotel spa’s changing room to get out of my wet bathing suit, and out of nowhere, four Italian ladies swooped in and took him off of my hands.
That has never happened to me here in Germany, but not for lack of desire. I think plenty of Germans would love to squeeze a pudgy infant leg, but here, like in the U.S., there's a "personal space" demarkation line.
I'm of two minds on the "it takes a village" mentality. On the one hand, Baby Y gets to have his cheeks pinched in multiple languages and I can wriggle out of a wet suit without having to have one hand on a wriggling baby. On the other hand, that same village that is always ready to help with the baby, is also always ready to help with advice about the baby, your hair, your clothes, your job and your business.
Which village is best?
02/28/2011