Baby at Play

Laura Wood, at The Thinking Housewife, has posted a lovely painting of a young boy (he looks about a year old) by Thomas Eakins titled Baby at Play.

I'm not sure if I've posted this, but below is an email I sent to a correspondent on my reactions to the Krim children murder. I write about a young neighbor of mine (a toddler) with blonde hair and blue eyes, who could be a Krim child.

I describe him below as: "playful, cheerful, curious and very friendly."

The sad, horrible story of the little children murdered by their nanny should haunt ordinary Americans, who are so generous and open towards "others" yet these "others" never reciprocate, or thank, this generosity.

I live across the street from a family with a little blond-haired, blue-eyed boy who could be the Krim's son. He is about three or four. He is playful, cheerful, curious and very friendly. He stands at the gate of his home and greets the passersby, with a mature "Hello... Hello there."

His parents leave him with a Chinese babysitter, who wheels him in a stroller around the neighborhood.

One day, I found her and this little boy in the nearby mall at rush hour (later in the afternoon). It was crowded, and I hate going there at that time unless I have to. She was stuffing him with candy and a can of coke. I felt immensely sad on seeing this lovely boy in such a horrible atmosphere, being cajoled with junk food, and busy, careless people rushing around him. I actually met her in a clothes store, where she was trying on some jacket, with the boy strapped right beside her. Is this the daily stroll his parents had in mind?

The babysitter speaks broken English (I talked to her in the store), and seems to travel from a distance as she's always rushing whenever I see her. Her life is very different from this charming family. My assessment is that she's one of those "newcomer" Chinese, who managed to get a job as a nanny through one of those immigration/welfare agencies. I get the feeling that she subtly mistreats this little boy, to get him to quiet down, or to rein in his energy. Strapping him to a stroller and feeding him junk food is one way to do that. I sensed a subtle cruelty in her treatment of the boy,

I don't doubt that she also follows Chinese child rearing practices in her own home, which are far more authoritarian than Western ones (I taught Chinese immigrants English for several years, and I've heard some of their ideas on child upbringing, and here's a blog post I did on the infamous "Tiger Mom").

This is the kind of people that liberal families are trusting their CHILDREN with. It is incredible.

I agree more with Matthew than with Jeanette that this Upper West Side murder is not really a case of drugs, but some other social dynamic going on.

I think it is a form of envy, which turns evil. The Dominican nanny could never have the kind of life this Upper West Side family has (had). Her children will never have the life that these little kids had. Like the South African child rapists, this is an evil retaliation to something they cannot have. I think it is pure envy.

This Chinese woman also can never really live like this white family. Even her children, brought up in Canada, and some (the girls) likely to marry white Canadians, will never really live like the white family, with its Western traditions. I think that there is more and more of an insidious atmosphere of envy (and evil) that seems to hang over life here. I often see it in the eyes of these non-Westerners, who are turning bitter and angry at the promises that cannot be fulfilled by these white people who gave them the free rein to show up and live in their country, marry their men and women, take over their homes, and bring up their children in anything but in accordance with the cultures and norms of the country.

I've written about this young neighbor here, here and here.

At the second "here" link, I've posted an illustration by Blanche Fisher Wright titled Baa Baa Black Sheep . In the post I write:

What's this song?

"Ba ba ba ba, bababababa!"

Of course, it's "Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?"

Courtesy of my little toddler neighbor across the street, singing the first line full throttle, and perfectly in tune.

He only "knows" the first line - so far.

"Baa Baa Black Sheep"
From The Real Mother Goose
Illustration by children's
books illustrator
Blanche Fisher Wright