A Morning On The Town

I realized the other day that I hadn’t yet taken my 14-week old son Jamie out in public on my own. Sure, my wife and I have been out with him plenty, but I’ve been spending a significant amount of time watching him at home now, so it’s something that needed to happen.

My unwillingness to be a recluse overcame my aversion to changing diapers in public, and I took him to church. It seemed like a more logical place to start than a loud concert, or running several errands. I really didn’t know what to expect. They have a room outside the main sanctuary with a TV and a feed to the service, that seemed like a decent backup plan. So I took the gamble to see if I could last an hour-and-a-half without him crying.

He floated in and out of sleep as the pastor spoke about having faith in our deepest and darkest hours of despair. This is when I learned that having an infant with you can create awkward moments from time to time.

I’m sitting in the back, and ready for an easy exit, as he wakes up. But instead of crying, he aimed a wide, glowing smile in my direction. The church is in the midst of a series analyzing movies through a Christian lens, and this week it was 127 Hours, where the main character is trapped for days with his arm crushed under a rock.

And I’m in the back trading wide smiles with my son.

It seemed odd. It seemed out of place. As the pastor talked about living in pain, I’m exchanging pleasantries with Jamie, giving him the widest grin I could.

He’s so darned cute in these moments, and it was all I could do to keep him from erupting at an innopportune time.

But he never cried. I never even had to change him.  And I felt like a genius for choosing the seat in the back.

The awkwardness of the moment and the juxtaposition it created made me laugh on the inside. The main character in the movie cut his arm off to escape and survive.

There I am whispering “Goochy Goochy Goo” to my son.

I’m sure it won’t be the last awkward moment we have. He hasn’t learned how to talk yet. I’m wondering what he’ll repeat that wasn’t intended for other ears to hear? Or what outrageous, imaginative thoughts he’ll have?

We shall see.