Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Identity Crisis

This past Sunday I filled in for a friend of mine at my church nursery. I  love doing this because I love babies and the way they smell and their cute little hands and funny expressions on their faces and the fact that I only have them for 90 minutes then I give them back to their parents.

It is a sweet deal, my friends.

As I was sitting on the floor playing with one of the sweet little cherubs who was drooling on my foot, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that a dad walked in with his little bundle all dressed in blue. I had never seen the dad or his baby boy before, which is actually encouraging because I love when we have new people at our church. The other nursery helper welcomed them and helped him sign up his kiddo on the registration form.

Then the dad came over and placed his adorable baby on the floor next to me and at that moment I turned around looked at the baby and said "Well hello there, handsome guy."

Only to be met by the most darling baby GIRL.

AWKWARD.

Like 22 kinds of awkward.

The dad just looked at me like I had grown a third eye. And I sat there wishing the ground would open up and swallow me. I had just called his adorable angel princess a BOY. Oh the issues she will have at 13.

To my defense, if I have one, she totally looked like a boy out of the corner of my eye and she was wearing blue from head to toe. WHO DRESSES THEIR BABY GIRLS IN BLUE? But what I didn't notice were her extremely long, girly eyelashes, the ruffles on her socks and the polka-dots on her shirt. I tried to figure out a way to laugh it off and pretend like I was talking to another boy baby but the dad was the only guy in the room.

Dear Jesus, come quickly.

So here were my choices:

1. Laugh it off and apologize, saying "Oh, I'm sorry. Of course you are not a boy! You are a beautiful little girl!" (That was obviously the route I should take.)

2. Hope that the dad thought I was talking to him, which HELLO HE IS MARRIED, would have been inappropriate on so many levels, especially since we were at church.

3. Pretend I didn't say anything and just keep acting normal...whatever that is.

I chose 3, because I am a mature adult, with a good dose of "well aren't HER ruffly socks so cute!" I am such a chicken.

When the dad returned to pick her up after church, I met him at the door saying, "SHE did such a good job! SHE is so sweet and plays so well with others. And SHE is almost walking, you must be so proud of HER!"

Overkill much?

Yes, very much.

So, if you ever need a babysitter, just let me know. I'll try not to warp your children.

And for the dad who brought in his baby girl all dressed in blue, please, for the love of her self-esteem and my reputation, put a bow in her hair. It will save a lot of awkwardness. I promise.

7 comments:

  1. Don't worry. Bekah can be wearing pink with a pink blanket, pink car seat and pink bow and folks still ask me if she's a boy or a girl. It's their fault for putting her in blue. What do they expect?
    Rach

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  2. You are hilarious! I love it. I would have said the same thing, no doubt. Oh well!
    Mel

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  3. I love reading your blog and laughing right out loud at the computer screen! That is a very awkward situation, and I think about the only thing I can think of that would top it is asking someone when her baby is due... only to find out that she HAD the baby 2 months ago! :S

    Ahhh. Living life on the awkward edge. Sometimes you just can't avoid it. :)

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  4. It's better than someone asking you in front of strangers if physical touch is your love language. Welcome to Awkward-ville, I'm the Mayor.
    - The Seester

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  5. As a parent this happens ALL THE TIME and my Sarah looks nothing like a boy with her curly hair and very girly outfits. You've met her. You know. I've learned to brush it off. I'm sure that dad will (if he hasn't already). I usually just smile and say, "thank you." And then affirm Sarah with lots of encouragement when the stranger walks away. Don't even give it another thought : )

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  6. Sarah, just want you to know that this same cute little girl was back in the nursery this morning, all decked out in PINK!!!

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  7. I always tried to dress my kids in gender appropriate color clothes when they were babies, to avoid any confusion. So, if they were dressing their daughter in blue, it's kind of their own fault - don't feel bad :) But when it happens to you someday, you'll probably be more sympathetic, right?!

    Mandy <><

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