In the Mirror, Kids

Children are a reflection of you.  It is an easy concept to maintain when the kid is slugging homers in little league or reading circles around his contemporaries in school, however when something less than perfect occurs it is easy to forget.  Theories abound about features mom nature built into kids to help insure parental involvement.  The idea is odd to most of us, the vast majority of parents can’t imagine not caring for the kids, however people do, and many other animals just walk away.  So scientist study what about kids triggers humans into caring for these little bundles, despite the gigantic commitment in time, and resources.  Babies smell good, they are cute, you can dress them however you like, they are portable, eventually they toddle, mash together words, hug, smile, carry your genetics……and a million other things, each of which triggers something in the parent that makes us forget the vomit, snot and other traumas.  Without this the human species would have even more trouble surviving.

Show a baby picture to someone and they will say “oh he’s cute, looks like his mom spit him out” besides the obvious “ well yeah she kind of did, duh!” it’s interesting to see how people relate to kids by the same reflective properties that fill you with pride at the baseball game.  Positive traits are easy, what about the stubbornness, imperfect smile, or recessive knuckle hair?  Here we have another tendency. Married or not, each owes 50 percent of his genetic stuff to each parent, so we blame the other parent, “your just as thickheaded as your father!” Next time you are about to say that, remember that we are who we are because of our genetics and how we were raised, not much choice there, but we do get to choose who we procreate with.

So the next time your wife gives you the Fisheye (the look that says “this is your fault”) when junior farts at dinner or picks his nose in church, remind her that she picked you as a partner, and therefore it is all her fault.  

This action is ill advised at best, and may lead to activities that keep you from procreating again, so you have been warned.