Don't Touch The Baby's Head!

When my baby sister was born, I was 6 and my brother had just turned 5. We were both hoping for another boy, but settled for what we got.

I don't remember a whole lot about my sister as a newborn - I was apparently oblivious to the late night feedings and general disruption a newborn can bring to a house. Good for me.

The one memory seared into my brain was my mother's constant warning to my brother and I - "DON'T TOUCH THE TOP OF THE BABY'S HEAD."

To hear my mom tell it, the skull on a newborn is soft and flexible so that he/she can squeeze through the birth canal. Consequently, until the pieces of the skull firm up, the baby could be seriously injured if too much pressure is applied to the top of the skull. Hence her edict that her sons would under no circumstances touch their sister's head.

Now, I don't know if what my mother said is all medically correct or not, but my mom had me scared out of my Boba Fett underoos that if I so much as laid a pinkie on my sister's head I would end up making mush of her brain.

That fear carried on into adulthood. When Heather and I brought Ian home I was very nervously about touching the top of his head. Heather made fun of me. So did my sister.

But now I get to laugh.

Just about two weeks ago my sister welcomed her first child into the world. She emailed me the following photo today with the following comment.

"can you guess what I am thinking in this picture? i can hear her voice in my head constantly...don't touch the baby's head!"

Who's laughing now.