Gametes In Love

We got G a harness buddy. This is where all of you go “YOU ARE PUTTING YOUR CHILD ON A LEASH?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?” Yeah, yeah, blah, blah… whatever. Here’s the deal: G has but one speed when we’re out and about: and that’s full run. Although his legs are about a foot long, they manage to take him places pretty quickly… sometimes quicker than I would like or can catch up with. Also, because he’s shorter than I, he can sneak in between objects that I wouldn’t even dream of. It made keeping up with him at the Academy of Sciences… how should I put it… interesting. So… I would much rather take dirty stares from parents (and non-parents alike) than to loose my kid, or have him get injured.

Through the help of my kick-ass mom community I was able to find what I was looking for. Interestingly enough the terms “Monkey backpack” or “Baby leash” weren’t quite getting me what I was searching for on Amazon, although I am certain that there’s a red flag on my Amazon profile now, logged w/ Child Protective Services, after that last query. Not only did Amazon have the harness buddies (Amazon carries everything, why am I even surprised?), they had all different kinds. So S and I opted for a lion because 1) Hey, it’s 1/2 of a griffin; 2) looks super cute; 3) not as popular as the monkey.

Well it arrived yesterday. Excited about it, S and I got it out of the box and onto the kid. And guess what? G HATED it! He whined until we took it off (but a minute later).

Not wanting to give up on this thing, I tried again today. I figured — getting him used to it at home sounds like a good idea, vs. having him throw a fit when we’re out and about and need it. Still no love for the Lion. So I wore it. Yeah you heard me right. It was ridiculously tight and I felt like I was being strangled by an elf, but I wore the thing for a good 30 minutes. The whole time I was bouncing around pretending I was having a great time, smiling and showing it off to G.  Seeing me wear it made him come around to it. When I took it off I gave the backpack a hug and handed it to G. Then we put it on him. This time, NO WHINING! Score!!! We didn’t do both buckles, just the top one, but hey it’s a huge move forward.

We’ll try again tomorrow, but I like that he’s getting acclimated to it.

I also liked that my “model behavior” technique worked. Obviously it won’t for everything and I have no intent to try sitting on the baby potty some day when we’re ready to start training (unless I want a Bjorn potty permanently adhered to my rear end), but I’m glad it worked for this situation.