Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Baby Kissing Politicians Beware!!!

So we went for a walk in the Village the other night. Leah picked up some yummy cheese from Globe Market. Sammy and the twins got ice cream. Both Noah and Aidan had a spoon, and watching them navigate the course of bowl to mouth (actually, Mommy’s hand to bowl to mouth) was a highly amusing 10 minutes of my life. It only lasted 10 minutes as the treat melted and Rocky got to clean up the bowl.

Sammy now goes in to the store and orders the ice cream by himself. Matter of fact, he pretty much does everything by himself these days. We’re on an intense independence kick. But I digress.

As our little familial unit was sitting on a bench, enjoying the summer evening and the ice cream, we were, as per usual, the object of many stares and smiles. We’re used to it by now, and we feel licensed to stare back at anything that catches our eye, be it people, fire trucks, animals, what have you. Usually, there is at least one “Look at that . . .” or “Wow, what a cool . . .” just to add color commentary for the kids.

A woman with a stroller was walking in our direction. Nothing too unusual about that. Everyone likes to see new babies, and I craned my head out to catch a glimpse. At the last second, she veered away from to the farthest point on the sidewalk away from us. As I felt the first pangs of mild embarrassment at being so blatantly avoided, I watched not one, but two dogs pop up from the stroller and begin to bark and growl at my family.

This was not an oversized stroller. The dogs were small, and posed about as much of a threat to us as an angry gerbil. Rocky could have eaten both of them and still been hungry. He didn’t even blink as the fierce stroller hounds were swiftly carted away.

Embarrassment quickly turned to disbelief, which quickly turned to the short burst of laughter at the expense of another person. Do I feel guilty for laughing?

Nope.

What kind of freak pushes their dogs around in a baby stroller?

I bet she owns one of these things too.