The Tab

The pre-labor show is in full swing. The coach is in the locker room prepping the team. The cheerleaders are on the side lines cheering for our little baby. The mascots, Rebel and Bowie, are doing somersaults and getting the crowd revved up.

The playbook calls for a lot of trust, though. One teammate runs long, the other throws. The ball should be there. To my surprise, we don't get our baby's trust for free, right out of the womb; we've got to earn it.

One book says "From the moment of birth, children BEGIN the task of assessing IF they can trust the world they live in to meet their needs." Huh, begin, if? Haven't we as parents already begun to foster trust, by meeting his needs from day one. Baby Ethan has been plugged in the whole time, getting nutrients, warmth, cable TV. You can't buy trust either; we just ran up a $400 tab at Baby's R Us yesterday in baby gear and equipment. All to "meet his needs" and "foster trust." How much more trust does he need? The book says, "Making children feel loved is the single most important task of parenting."

By the way, how many pads does our little teammate need? He's got mattress pads, changing pads, changing pad covers, mattress covers, travel pad, crib bumbers, car seat cover...AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! Our equipment guy has some work to do.