Friday, April 23, 2010

Don't fence me in!

Main Entry: contain
Part of Speech: verb
Definition: include, hold
Synonyms: accommodate, be composed of, comprehend, comprise, consist of, embody, embrace, enclose, encompass, have, have capacity for, hold, incorporate, involve, seat, subsume, take in  

Main Entry: contain
Part of Speech: verb
Definition: hold back, control
Synonyms: bottle up, check, collect, compose, cool*, cork, curb, harness, hog-tie, hold in, keep back, keep lid on, put half nelson on, rein, repress, restrain, restrict, simmer down, smother, stifle, stop

Taken from Thesaurus.com

At this age, I feel like I'm always trying restrain Alex. He's crawling and furniture walking and getting into everything. I'm always putting him in the stroller, car seat, carrier, crib. I do try to give him time to free roam as well, to explore and make messes. Squishing bananas between his fingers, grabbing handfuls of cat food, splashing in the tub, screeching at the top of his lungs to play with his voice. Last night Alex got some extended naked time. I swear he's twice as fast when naked.

In order to get anything done though, sometimes I have to confine him. I strapped him onto my back in the Ergo carrier yesterday, just to get some vacuuming done. I'd like to think I'm creating a holding environment (therapy term) and not just putting him in Baby Jail. I prefer the first set of synonyms (although it does feel like I'm hog tying him when I'm changing his diaper).


Alex in what we affectionately call The Circle of Neglect

2 comments:

Hi, I'm Natalie. said...

My husband, last night: "I'm just going to put Frances in her crate while I run upstairs."

(Her "crate" is a Graco Pack 'N Play. But we have a crate for the dog, so word habits are hard to break. =P)

Frances won't tolerate her Circle of Neglect anymore - you're lucky!! I have her in the Ergo all the time to vaccuum, etc. I think they like those things. =)

CO said...

LOVE the term 'circle of neglect'! My husband used to refer to the playpen as a baby jail. As in, "Aw, I can't stand to see her with her little face pushed up against the side of her baby jail so sad and wanting to get out". Sophie is 2 now and NOTHING contains her. I would gladly stick her back in baby jail for just 2 minutes if only I could . . .. :)

Post a Comment