Wrapped Up Close
My mother says my abuela did it with a rebozo,
And her mother, and her mother’s mother.
They slung each child onto their backs
With inherent skill, and went about their days.
They worked in the fields, they ground corn,
They clapped tortillas in their hands.
All the while the baby suckled expertly swung on a hip,
Slept soundly, or pointed here and there with chubby little fingers.
“Now a days you feel you need the assurance of the experts,” she says
Researchers say this, and they say that, and studies show….
What mother’s instinct could have told you centuries ago;
That when you wrap a baby on you,
You always know that he is breathing,
When he is cold, or running a fever.
How often he is sleeping, eating, and in need of a diaper change.
And that it’s the best medicine for colic.
My mother carried me with a rebozo,
She didn’t know her breathing and heart beating regulated my breathing,
She didn’t know wrapping me close was reminiscent of the womb and that’s why it comforted me,
But my mother knew what mother’s instincts have been telling us for centuries;
That a baby’s place is by his mother.
4 comments:
You are so right! I wore my first baby a lot, but then the second one not so much because of the traumatic situation that I was dealing with. I am not sure how much that had to do with it, but their personalities are so different. The first is outgoing and assured and the second is shy and slow to warm up to things. My third is always somewhere on someone either in arms or strapped on...well, whenever we can catch him!
I'm sorry you had a traumatic situation with your second. I agree though, they do come with very different personalities. Babywearing has to agree with them too :) Thank you for stopping by.
This was a great post. You are very blessed by your mother.
Thank you Jenny, I do feel very blessed.
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