This morning as Miss M (who was visiting for the weekend) and I were leaving for church, we walked into the hall and pushed the elevator call button; the door opened and there were two grandmothers with a baby. We thought they would get off, but they indicated that we should get on the elevator and then closed the doors and pushed “1”. I was confused at first and then realized that the baby was fussy and they were trying to persuade him to eat breakfast. I smiled at the baby and made “mmm” noises with some good lip-smacking thrown in and he got a big grin and opened his mouth wide. As the grandmas tried to get him to take the next bite, he started to squirm and refuse until I smiled again and said, “mmm”. After this bite, the grandmas were both talking to him and earnestly telling him that he should eat all his breakfast because even the American “Auntie” wanted him to. It was pretty funny to see his eyes get big as he let them shovel bite after bite into him. He was not one of the “starving children in China” and probably wouldn’t have been any worse off if they’d stopped feeing him when he had wanted to quit. I felt bad for contributing to the possible future “upsizing” of China, but hey, you take your communication opportunities here when you can get them. As we got off the elevator, we realized that Baby and Grandmas were staying on and going for another ride back up to the top. I suppose that’s one way to eliminate meal-time distractions. It certainly was a great way to put a smile on my face that lasted the rest of the morning!

So there you go, all you high-rise glorious apartment-dwelling mommies! If Baby is fussy and refusing to eat, try taking baby and food for an elevator ride. The least that will happen is you might put a smile on a stranger’s face.

winner-winner, chicken dinner 🙂

Guess that movie: “We are noodle folk. Broth runs through our veins.”