Many mammalian species bear young who can walk or move about in some way right from birth. Not us stupid humans. I tried to get my newborn to walk to the kitchen to fetch me a glass of water when I was thirsty right after his homebirth and that little floppy baby didn't even so much as make an attempt. It's almost like he didn't even understand me. I had to carry him around or find someplace safe to lay him (like a cradle or a rocker infant seat) for something like 7 months before he started to really move around any significant amount. Even then, it was about a year before I could expect him to fetch me things and he still sucks at it at the age of 18 months. All of my kids were like this. Inconvenient, right from the start.
This is how it seems a lot of people feel about their kids. This is part of the reason that the average baby registry kills 37,000 trees to print off at the store. Parents assume they need all this stuff to care for their infant, when in reality its just all crap that makes their lives easier and babies more "convenient". They bring their precious little packages home from the insane asylum, I mean hospital, in well padded, crash tested, appropriately color coordinated for the gender infant safety seats with convenient carrying handles that can also be rocked. They sit on a base in the car, a base in the stroller and a base in your home so that you don't have to touch your needy, helpless baby unless it has pissed or shit itself, and even that's debatable depending on how absorbent his or her landfill occupier, I mean disposable diaper, is.
It unnerves me to no end that some parents will go from home to a restaurant or store or several stores and back home again without ever having touched their beautiful little child. Touch stimulates growth and nurturing stimulates development and yet some parents cannot be inconvenienced by doing either of those. Breastfeeding, babywearing and co-sleeping are, when done responsibly, all safe and effective ways to insure that your child grows up feeling your love, knowing their self-worth and maturing in adequate time. Giving your child the impression that he or she is too much trouble for any of those things, or your time, is the surest way to help them grow up to be detached, uncaring adults.
Personally, I know that when my arms are sore, I've done something good today, and not because its the result of weight training all afternoon. In my grounded, well adjusted young children, I see the benefits of my efforts. As for the teenagers, well, they are a completely different story...
