Horseshit

The in-laws strike again weeks before they're supposed to actually arrive here.

The Boy is 15 months now and is only beginning to stand and take one step forward. I was never worried about this -- I'm told even N walked only at 18 months. (Of course, it is even claimed that his first word ever was "horse". Not mama, not dada, no baba, booboo, aggo.. none of that for our born Mr PhD. I used to think earlier when I was much in love with him and everything that that was awfully smart of him, but now that I have a baby of my own and I know how it all works etc., I know it for what it really was -- horseshit.)

But I'm digressing. So they have been saying to me now that he isn't walking because he wears socks. And I remember they used to say something similar when he wasn't crawling. That he wears diapers, which is why he doesn't crawl.

So apparently, in colder countries where children wear socks because otherwise their feet will be cold, and wear diapers because otherwise their mum will be the maid washing nappies all day, babies crawl late and walk even later.

Now I know they're just trying to justify to themselves why their little genius isn't walking yet, but not just do they only try to convince themselves; they actually manage to put a seed of doubt in me.

I have always known that it's absolutely normal for babies to walk anywhere between 9 and 18 months, and in any case this sort of race to the milestone doesn't mean a damn -- I mean, N walked later, talked late and yet he has a PhD and is one of the smartest people I know (I mean, he's an academic writing books and stuff; not just street smart, which he is not).

And yet after weeks and weeks of every Skype conversation culminating in the same observation, "he doesn't walk yet because he wears socks all the time", I actually did a google search on the damn thing and found no evidence whatsoever to support the view. What I did realise was that they were turning me absolutely cuckoo afterall!

This constant interfering just drives me nuts! And from just about anybody.

When The Boy happily chews a pen because he's teething, I'm told he will poke his eye with it if I let him do that. When the only way he used to sleep in his pram was when was completely covered off with a cloth and he couldn't see a thing outside that might excite him, I was told I was cutting off his air supply. When he crawls around at another child's birthday party, I'm told not to let him do that; the floor is dirty.

What's the solution then? Make him a bubble wrap myself or should I order one online?