Yesterday's family get-together included the youngest member. The young mother fussed over him (he's her first), fed him 5 or 6 times, handed him around from family member to family member, bounced him on her knee, and generally kept him entertained and in the middle of everything.

He ate and dozed off, trying to sleep, but mom kept bringing him back into the livingroom, to be part of the family and participate in the sometimes boisterous, sometimes quiet, sometimes musical good times.

For some reason, he kept being cranky. As soon as he was re-awakened from his nap, he would fuss and fuss, until he was jollied and teased and coaxed out of it.

For heaven's sake, I wanted to shout. He's only 5 weeks old (that's weeks, not months). What he wants is some dark and quiet place to sleep with mom nearby, now that his diaper is clean and his tummy is full. Too much excitement, too many bright lights, too many strangers' cheerful voices and he was overstimulated and overtired.

But mother wanted to be part of the ongoing celebration, and keep the baby at the heart of it. I kept thinking it was a bit selfish of her, that she should go into one of the bedrooms with him and stay with him until he was soundly asleep. So she missed some of the conversation; so she wasn't the center of attention for a while. So what.

This is the same one who had labor induced early so she wouldn't spoil her Thanksgiving. Self-centered, but nothing any of us "old folks" can say. She knows what's best for her child.