Hands-Off Dad

We went to visit someone who just had a baby last weekend. When I arrived, the Mom was resting so the Baby was with the Grandma. At that time, the Baby was pooping… and for some reasons, this baby continued to poop for a good 15 minutes. In the middle of the process, while the Grandma was holding the diaper and cleaning his bum-bum, the Dad walked in and took a quick glance at the baby.

The Dad: Oh, he’s pooping (walked out of the room)

Later on, The Dad brought out a box of learning cards and showed it to us.

Us: Wow, these are great! You should use them with your 3 years-old.

The Dad: Oh, she’ll run away when she hears the word “learn.”

Soon, the Mom came out from her room into the Grandma’s room to look at the Baby. The Dad was nowhere to be seen, leaving the little girl with me in the living room. It was 5 PM, the Little Girl was drenched in sweat, her hair unruly and wet, her soles were black from running around the house. She was playing by herself so I called her to sit beside me.

Me: Hey, let’s play with these cards. Can you tell me what this is? (pointing at a giraffe)

Little Girl: ilafe (her pronunciation was far from perfect, but she got it!)

Me: That’s right! How about this one? (pointing at a monkey)

Little Girl: Onkey

Me: Great! You are so smart! Let’s give you a round of applause.

Little Girl: (giggling and clapping her hand enthusiastically).

This continued for a while and, surprisingly, the Little Girl was very responsive to the questions I asked her.
Well, I don’t think I have any right to judge, but I can’t help but to think… If you don’t want to raise children, why have them?