There’s an anarchist in the house, tearing it apart — impervious to reason, impervious to threats, impervious to everything. A newborn infant has no sense of dignity, no sense of right and wrong, no regard for the most elementary human decency. Few things in life can drive an adult to greater extremes of distraction than a helpless baby that won’t stop crying.
What does it want? It can’t tell you, and nothing you can think of — milk, fondling, a walk, a toy — quiets it. Already, it seems, the world has let it down too grievously; the infant will wail its grief to eternity — and you have to be at work in the morning.
The Asahi Shimbun last month published a report on abusive head trauma in infants and small children. The most trivial action can produce the most tragic results. The baby howls and you’re at your wits’ end. You’ve tried this and tried that, nothing works; you give the baby a shake or a thump; it brings you to your senses and you hate yourself immediately. Too late — you may have impaired the child’s development for life.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.