In my eyes, like most parents, I think my daughter, Mrs Tiggywinkles, is THE cutest baby ever. There is though that insuppressible feeling of pride and satisfaction when complete strangers tell me she is too.
I remember when she was a newborn, I used to love taking her out in her pram and showing her off to the world. After spending a week in hospital following her birth, the first day we got home, my husband and I couldn’t wait to get her in her new wheels and take her for a walk down to the shops (see below).
They look so tiny and sweet and peaceful when they are that age (providing they are asleep). In fact, it got to the point when I almost EXPECTED people to comment on her, even if it was only to enquire how old she was.
If a shopkeeper or someone standing with me in the queue or even a passerby didn’t give a smile, a kind remark, even sneak a sideways glance, I would silently think: “COME ON, what’s wrong with you? Don’t you HAVE A HEART?”
Particularly in the early stages, your baby is your world and you are SO proud to have produced such a wonderful human being, you think eveybody should think the same and acknowledge them.
Mrs T still gets compliments but I am getting a little less tolerant of a mistake which is easy to make when they are younger but which is now becoming a little annoying.
I was at the supermarket this week and twice Mrs T was complimented on being “cute”. Great – love it. Unfortunately, she was also TWICE referred to as a “he”.
HE? It’s a girl! Grrrr. Can’t you tell?
I accept a portion of the blame – I had dressed her in a cream baby grow (the horror) so she wasn’t wearing clothes that screamed “I’m a girl”.
Still, if dressing your child in non-gender specific clothes is good enough for Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt and their daughter Shiloh’s penchant for tomboy style, then it is good enough for me. I also must add that Mrs T was wearing her THIRD outfit of the day after a series of messy nappies so choice was wearing thin.
It is funny how people seem to assume babies (or tabies) are boys. It is the default gender assumption. Unless they are wearing a dress and have pink running throughout their outfit with a bright pink bow in their hair, clearly it has to be a boy.
I know it can be hard to tell. I am very cautious when complimenting other mums on their young children. However I did think Mrs T was looking a lot more feminine these days…
Last week I had to gently correct one of the security women at Heathrow (bearing in mind I didn’t fancy being hauled into a private room and strip searched and, more importantly, didn’t want to miss my flight). Although the young lady was being very nice to Mrs T, she did keep referring to her as HE even after I’d told her she was a SHE. Get the hint!
In order to restore Mrs T’s femininity after the supermarket incident, I dressed her in a pink dress to go shopping in. This time there were no mistakes and once again I felt resounding pride for her without feeling a tiny bit upset that she was mistaken for a boy.
The latest fascination amongst those commenting about her is her hair. It appears to have taken on a natural wildness hair stylists spend hours trying to perfect on models bound for magazine photo shoots. More than once there was mention of her blonde locks and her “Mohican”. Yep. It is back!
