How to scare a child
It’s not that hard to do. But still, it’s pretty cute. My husband shaved his mustache off when our son was about three, to similar effect:
I bet she would have been a whole lot more frightened if he’d been able to grow a beard in 30 seconds.
And now for something that is unlikely to scare anybody:
[Hat tip: CDR M at Ace’s.]
I kinda liked this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGt_6foIZDU
It’s more like abandonment symptoms.
Or……just show them their share of the growing national debt. That should scare anyone.
The top video was unsettling. This is not a criticism, just another way of looking at it.
There is something very profound in the way a baby looks at something. Profound and essentially human.
In the baby’s world, the beard removal is a critical factor of life.
The removal of the beard is only weeks away from covering eyes and saying “peek-a-boo,” an absurdity which makes perfect baby sense and gets perfect baby laughter, delightful for all involved in a perfect loving way implicating superior intellect.
If daddy had said, make a magic movement over my beard, and when baby did so, he pretended to be affected, and then did the rest, baby would have been delighted, amazed, and loved daddy so much the love could never be removed.
The secret is in the loving magic, eventually understood to be just loving, getting on the same loving wave length.
Empowering the baby, the child, through love.
I realize “empowering” is a bogus propaganda word destructive in so many ways, but it can be a good meaning word when used correctly.
I guess what I was saying was, the baby could have been induced to love, as opposed to being frightened. But now that I think about it, I might have over-reacted.
Well, I’ll be… I never before saw mention of your having a husband….AND a son, Neo..! I’ll be… WOW and a hardy Thumbs Up, Kiddo!!
my toddler daughter screeched in horror when her
much lover meme (grandmother) removed her
glasses for the first time in her presence !
NeoConScum:
Then-husband (ex-husband now).
I don’t write much about my personal life, but every now and then I do. This is probably one of the most personal posts I’ve written about my husband and my son.
I once tried to give an overworked mom a break by holding her baby while she took a quick shower. The baby didn’t know me well, was tired after a long trip, and we were in an unfamiliar house, and started to fuss as soon as her mamma disappeared into the bathroom. She was so worried and weepy that after a while, I carried her into the bathroom so that she could hear her mother’s voice saying comforting things from behind the shower curtain. That only seemed to make things worse, and finally her loving mamma — still shampooing her hair — pulled back the curtain so that the baby could see she was really there. Disaster. The mother who had been dry and fully dressed and shiny-haired when last seen was now wet, her clothes were gone and instead of hair she now had foamy bubbles all over her head. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a baby scream in such shock and fear. It was awful, and only funny in the aftermath, since only mamma could comfort the horrified baby, and she was unrecognizable.
Appreciate it, Neo.
Your story and the top video instantly swept me back-in-time to Christmas night, 1975. After my 1st wife and 8-year old step son went to bed, some impulse, curiosity and (probably) grain neutral spirits tugged me into my bathroom where I shaved off my full beard. I’d had it since January 1970 when I’d gotten out of the draft on Induction Day. They’d never seen their husband & stepfather naked above the neck. I shall never forget the jaw-dropping looks of shock, surprise and (maybe) Horror on their faces the next morning when I presented the New Me!! Well… The furry face was back within 3-months and has not been bare since. Dang… They darned near burned me at the proverbial stake until they ‘recognized me’ again. Sheeeesh..!
Thanks for the smiling memory and the peek into N-Neo’s life, too.