Being Bitten
By Catherine Young, Clifford, Ontario
Rebecca was fuzzy headed and laughing at seven months. At eight she
hiked up on wobbly legs and giggled at me in the kitchen. She was a
love-bunny, the darling of my heart, the joy of my life, and then
she
bit me.
�Ouch!� I hollered, more frightened than hurt, and instinctively
jammed my finger between her gums. She cried, and I did too.
We went for walks in the park with our sling. She joined me on her
sheepskin while I baked. We nursed. She grinned. I cooed. She stretched
her legs in a baby ballet. She fixed blue eyes on mine, stopped in
mid-suck and bit me again..
�No!� I admonished, this time not as surprised but still pretty
darn mad. There were repeat performances, a good dozen times, until we
both learned two things. She had a certain look that would precede a
bite, and she would stop sucking for a second before the big chomp. I
would immediately follow a bite with an action that ended access to my
beloved nipple; I was mother, not an apple.
I have been bitten again. By more babies, neighbours, salesmen,
lovers, teachers, relatives, and a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig. I try to
convey the same message to them all; I am not an apple. Depending on
their size and shape, I will convey the message more than once (with my
babies it was always over and over and over) and as lovingly as
Catherine Young lives near Clifford, Ontario and has a flock of
sheep. They have no upper teeth.
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Biting
by Melanie Fike, Lytton, British Columbia
Biting came at about nine months. Sequoia would bite me at least six
times a day. Startled reaction, stern voice, taking her off the breast
momentarily - nothing worked. She would smile; she wasn�t getting it.
So what I did was, every time she bit me, I took her off the breast,
gold her what was happening, and left the room for as long as I could
stand it; usually a minute. She would cry, and I would feel terrible
hearing her cry, but after doing this for about two weeks without fail,
she totally stopped biting.
She realized that biting meant no mommy.
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