Babies: A Mystery
I was on my way to class the other day, on the corner of Pine and 12th. I was waiting for a clear spot to turn right, and while I was waiting a woman walked in front of me with an infant-filled stroller. The sound coming out of the stroller was nothing less than spectacular. Seriously, if I hadn't actually seen the source, I might have thought it was an air raid siren.
I looked at the woman walking this child and thought "wow, that must really, really suck." After they crossed I turned right onto 12th and forgot about them. But not for long.
Traffic was really slow on 12th and I ended up waiting at the end of the next block for a long time. How long? Long enough to hear a faint cry and then listen as it got louder and louder and became the same air raid sirenesque howl that I had heard before.
The infant, amazingly enough, had been keeping this racket up for at least two blocks, and I'm sure I didn't catch the beginning or the end of the show. The woman was still walking with the same vacant look on her face, which I barely caught before I drove away again.
This time traffic was a lot better and I didn't see them again. But it really made me think about babies and what interesting creatures they are. How much energy and vocal strength does it take to do what this baby was doing? Seriously. Think about it. Or better yet, measure out three city blocks. Then, start walking slowly from start to finish, and scream at the top of your lungs the whole time. I think that would be tough. Yet, babies do it all the time.
It also reminded me of another baby I'd seen the day before in the IGA parking lot. A woman was lifting her kid out of a shopping cart and attempting to secure it in some kind of car seat, and the baby in question had gone stiff as a board. The back was arched, the arms and legs were extended straight, and the vocal cords were on overdrive. This kid was clearly upset about something.
That was obvious. My question though, was why the upsetting turn of events had caused the baby to go stiff like that. I've seen babies and toddlers do it before, and it must mean something. I mean, on an instinctive level, why do kids go into that board-like position when they don't want to be moved/placed somewhere? Clearly it's an evolutionary defense machanism. I have two theories as to why this might have been helpful in nature:
It makes them heavier. This might cause the parent/predator/whoever, to either be unable to carry the weight or decide that the child/prey isn't worth the effort to carry away.
Makes them seem bigger. This would be akin to a cat arching its back when cornered. This might make the parent/predator reassess the situation and think "ok maybe I've bitten off more than I can chew here. I better back off."
Either way, it's interesting...
I looked at the woman walking this child and thought "wow, that must really, really suck." After they crossed I turned right onto 12th and forgot about them. But not for long.
Traffic was really slow on 12th and I ended up waiting at the end of the next block for a long time. How long? Long enough to hear a faint cry and then listen as it got louder and louder and became the same air raid sirenesque howl that I had heard before.
The infant, amazingly enough, had been keeping this racket up for at least two blocks, and I'm sure I didn't catch the beginning or the end of the show. The woman was still walking with the same vacant look on her face, which I barely caught before I drove away again.
This time traffic was a lot better and I didn't see them again. But it really made me think about babies and what interesting creatures they are. How much energy and vocal strength does it take to do what this baby was doing? Seriously. Think about it. Or better yet, measure out three city blocks. Then, start walking slowly from start to finish, and scream at the top of your lungs the whole time. I think that would be tough. Yet, babies do it all the time.
It also reminded me of another baby I'd seen the day before in the IGA parking lot. A woman was lifting her kid out of a shopping cart and attempting to secure it in some kind of car seat, and the baby in question had gone stiff as a board. The back was arched, the arms and legs were extended straight, and the vocal cords were on overdrive. This kid was clearly upset about something.
That was obvious. My question though, was why the upsetting turn of events had caused the baby to go stiff like that. I've seen babies and toddlers do it before, and it must mean something. I mean, on an instinctive level, why do kids go into that board-like position when they don't want to be moved/placed somewhere? Clearly it's an evolutionary defense machanism. I have two theories as to why this might have been helpful in nature:
It makes them heavier. This might cause the parent/predator/whoever, to either be unable to carry the weight or decide that the child/prey isn't worth the effort to carry away.
Makes them seem bigger. This would be akin to a cat arching its back when cornered. This might make the parent/predator reassess the situation and think "ok maybe I've bitten off more than I can chew here. I better back off."
Either way, it's interesting...
posted by Darren at
12:10 AM
2 Comments:
Funny! With 3 kids, I've seen a lot of that. My medical training instinctually turns on now: let me see, I believe it's the stress (fight/flight) reflex that causes all joints to extend. It's like the muscle rigidity is a shield to protect from impact. Anyway, it definitely sucks - and it's the only thing (along with the yelling) that drives my wife up the wall. You should try having them, kids that is...builds resiliance!
Heh I bet it does build resiliance... I'm not having any til I can afford to hire someone to raise them.
Could be a while...
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