Bits And Pieces

That Brand New Baby

     Women's intuition, at least mine, is sure undependable.  Daughter and I were positive this new, first baby would be a boy---instead Jill is a rosebud of a little girl.

     How does it feel to be a grandmother?  Wonderful is the word, not that I've noticed any great changes in myself or that the fact has improved my knitting.  It's just fun and exciting to have a really wee one in the family again.

     "She reminds me of my baby pictures," declared daughter excitedly over the phone an hour after Jill's birth.  And she does.  All of a sudden just looking at her rolls back the years to a time when daughter was a small, pink bundle I brought home from the hospital.  Strange it only seems like a year or two ago.

     Along with the fact that only daddies can be hospital visitors, many changes have evolved with the new baby.

     Mom doesn't linger long in the hospital, but she is better equipped from the start to handle that first born.  She and her husband may attend classes on caring for the new baby and the doctors spend more time explaining just what to expect the day of birth.

     I remember I was scared to death to pick up daughter and friends peeked at her from the doorway of her bedroom.  You just didn't handle that new baby and we were much more conscious of a possible germ invading the nursery. 

     The baby was oiled from top to bottom and water baths were taboo until the baby was two weeks old.  She was fed on schedule every four hours regularly, and if she awakened early hungry, she cried until the clock said "go".

     Mothers now are much more at ease with their firstborns and can hold and cuddle them at the first cry and feed them on demand.

     Clothes too, are much more practical.  Those cute, little knit suits complete with snappers and feet are perfect for the newborn, and the soft colors of these outfits melt in your mouth.  Greens, blues, yellows, pinks as well as white, and because they're completely covered, it does away with their cocoon wrappings of receiving blankets.

     Little girls' rubber pants are dressed up with rosebuds and ruffles and come in the smallest of sizes eliminating rubber pads on your laps and extra protection in the bed.  Even the smallest can be put into little girl dresses or the smallest of boy suits.  The long nightgown with the drawstring bottom is gone along with flannel gowns.

     Baby furniture has undergone a change too.  Mothers seem to prefer the bath tables with their convenient nests of drawers that swing out and use small plastic bathtubs on top rather than bother with the mess of a bathinette.

     I can remember how the hose was always mysteriously becoming detached from its hook and the water liberally soaking the floor.  Most bathrooms were too small for these bathing things anyway and the new tables are convenient and handy for many other daily uses.

     There's the new infant seat which carry a small tot firmly with back support.  Even baby bottles come in plastic and rainbow colors.

     But they haven't done away with grandmas yet and she's still around to help out when the new one comes home.

     She learns once again to handle that baby easily and stand by as housecleaner, wash and ironer, baby spoiler and moral support for the new mother.

     She's ready to share the knowledge she remembers from the time daughter or son was a baby.  She should be around when needed and be able to fade gracefully out of the picture when the new mother is able to navigate the stormy new baby seas alone.  And she'll learn to offer advice when asked and not constantly because, after all, she'll remember what it was like with the grandmas when she brought her first baby home.

Written August 26, 1965

      This is typical Mom writing a story and working in some evolution she's seen in her life along with advice, of course.