Saturday, December 31, 2011

My Mobyish is not as scary as I thought


There are a lot of things about babies that are scary. Even before they get here! First, there’s the possibility of miscarriage, then there’s will-they-find-something-bad-on-the-ultrasound?, and then of course labor. All genuinely scary. I also recently learned that breastfeeding is scary! Like, for a lot of people. Breastfeeding! Who knew! (I’m glad I didn’t.)

So, confession. I’ve been intimidated by my Moby wrap, which I will refer to as my Mobyish, because it is actually a knock-off, handed down from my sister-in-law, and I can never remember what she told me it is actually called. So, my Mobyish. Scary!

In case you don’t know, a Mobyish is just a long (like, REALLY long) piece of stretchy knit fabric that you wrap around yourself multiple times to create an origami baby-carrier right there on your person. The first time my sister-in-law showed me, as she was gifting me her well-adored strip of fabric, I was thinking, “That’s bananas. But thanks.”

So it sat for a bit, due to the intimidation and all. Then one day I checked out the instructions online and became a fabric origami-master right then and there. It was a lot more than I usually accomplish in a day, so I was feeling pretty pleased with myself. I slid my baby into his pouch and went to make some oatmeal. Until I realized we were all wet -- all of us! Baby Grady, me, and the Mobyish. My one and only diaper leak took place approximately 12 seconds after I became baby-wearing. This led to laundry, as most things do.

Finally, yesterday, I decided to give that gigantic piece of fabric another chance. I wrapped and tied like an origami ninja and slid that baby into my pouch. He was all cozy for a minute or two until his pouch-inhabiting led to hunger, as most things do. The only reasonable choice at this point was to wrangle a boob out through all the layers and try to connect it with Baby Grady. And wouldn’t you know, it worked. And I felt so rustic and Earth-motherish. Like a skilled tribeswoman ready to pound some grain while wearing and feeding my offspring. Tomorrow I may try carrying the groceries in a basket on my head. Because apparently maybe I can.

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