NoBloPoMo 12/2

I admit it, I'm a person who judges other people on how they react to my kids. What that means is that I'm waiting for you to say my kids are cute, if you don't, it's likely that Ken and I will talk about you later as in, "Can you believe so-and-so didn't say the kids were cute?"
I blame society for this because society tells us our kids are cute - all the time. Seriously. Want to get a response from 20+ people on Facebook? Don't write something clever - post a photo of your kids - people you didn't even remember you were friends with will respond to it. It's pavlovian. It's taken to the next level when you have twins - hyperdrive cute.
When S & N were babies and I'd push them down Main Street in their double stroller we were like a parade: people in cars would slow down and point, people on foot would at the very least smile when we passed, I think that even dogs were humbled (yep, they're cuter than me, woof, woof). I was pushing the boys on a side road once and a man came out off his porch and asked me if I'd push my twins over so his 90-year old mother could see them. Last week S & N stood at the end of the driveway to wave to the garbage man and not only did the garbage man wave back, he stopped to truck, got out, talked to them, showed them the cab, and beeped the horn. The twins were awestruck.
When they were babies I remember telling my husband the twins were ambassadors of good will and that I'd never, in my life, gotten so much attention. It was intoxicating. It was what being popular must be like. You get used to it. We got used to it. Which is why - when people don't comment on how freaking' adorable my kids are, I notice. Yesterday the plumber was here, providing a morning of entertainment for S & N who would have happily handed over tools had it been an option. Silas even presented him with a gift: a yellow piece of paper with several cut marks (he's working on his scissor skills), and barely got an acknowledgment. I get it. The guys not a little-kid kind of guy, I wasn't a little-kid kind of gal before I had some myself, but it doesn't stop me from saying, when Ken called to ask about the job, "can you believe he didn't say the kids were cute?"
Even though I was not a baby gusher before kids, now I try to comment on other people kids because as adorable as that baby or toddler is when I tell their mother that they are lovely, there will come a time in the not-too-distant future when they will be red-faced and wailing. Perhaps when they are in that moment, it will help that exasperated parent to remember that their child is usually so sweet that even strangers on the street notice.