Visit the kelpforest....

Sometimes I fall into the bad habit of measuring others by my own experiences. At lunchtime, someone was discussing Anna Nicole Smith’s train wreck of a TV show, and someone mentioned, "I feel sorry for her kid, having to go to school and face his fellow students, when his mom has that show!"

I shook my head in consternation, and said "She has a teenager?!" Too me, not only does she not seem capable, she doesn’t seem old enough. "Oh yes," D. said. "She’s my age, at least." And while D. is 8 years younger than me, I know she has a nearly-14-year-old son, though you wouldn’t think it to look at her.

I have this mistaken bias that I’m in the same age group as other mom’s with kids my age, when the truth is that many of them are as much as twenty years my junior, and many people my age have kids ready to leave home (or already have).

I’m a late bloomer in many respects. It’s confusing sometimes.

I have always thought that babies look like babies, and I can never see it when relatives say "Oh, she looks like Uncle Bob (or her father, or me, for that matter)," except for eyes; all of my kids have John's bright blue eyes (mine are also blue, but more grayish). To me, they don't start resembling their relatives until they get older and begin outgrowing the round baby features. I am struck, however, at how different they are from each other. Barbara just brought her grandson by to show off, and at 5-1/2 months, he is the roundest child I have ever seen. He really resembled one of those Japanese Hotei sculptures. And I thought my kid's cheeks went on forever. He didn't , however, have the arm and leg folds Angus had at the same age - someone at Starbucks told me he looked like the Michelin Man (just like her grandbabies, so I'm sure she meant it fondly).

Vicky in the next cubicle (who is also my boss Dave's wife) remarked how it's interesting that women's voices go up an octave when they see babies (I think I read somewhere that babies actually are attracted to higher pitched voices). I notice it happens with puppies and kittens as well. I try not to, but I imagine the same thing happens to me when I see nudibranchs or lizards or baby grunion..... (and I'll admit it, human babies as well - they remind me too much of my own).