there is no path in life that is totally free from babies. i may not be making any of my own but i am becoming uncle christian to more and more little homunculi.

today is a baby-structured day. this morning, after my morning run "over the hill" to the bakery by the claremont hotel, i had to go out again to brave college avenue and pick out baby things for a shower b is attending right now.

i managed a classic misunderstanding of intentions, almost a culture clash, in that i picked out gifts, but thought not of their wrapping. i didn't ask the clerk who sold me the little sack and the two blankies to wrap 'em up, nor did i replenish our exhausted supply of wrapping paper.

when i got home i realized my goof and was defensive. b expected more of me, without specifying. i took her literally, to my peril. finally, i realized another quick dash in the car, this time to nearby lakeshore and a fentsy schmentsy card shop for hep baby-themed wrapping paper. i fretted in line about tape but decided there was enough at home.

leaving, i noticed the rack of cards. giant-baby themes, ugly old pictures of the rodham-clintons in the seventies, and other weirdness. returning home, b opted to wrap the presents herself, cutting me a little slack. then she asked if i had gotten any ribbon and supposed i hadn't picked up a card. i glad she dealt with everything from that point on, because i had temporarily at least lost my ability to cope.

x

now i'm waiting for b to return and for our friends brenda and steve, who've gotten a babysitter tonight and agreed to help us inaugurate a series of adults-only evenings with our parent friends.