A couple of years ago, a movie came out that was titled, “Babies”. It is a documentary about just that. Four babies during their first year of life in four very different parts of the world. Japan, Namibia, Mongolia, and San Francisco. When I heard about it, I remembered thinking I wanted to see it, but like everything else, it got put on hold because I just had a baby of my own last year. But, recently, we decided to make it a family event and watch it with all three of our babies.
It was fascinating to see the similarities between my baby now, and the babies in very different cultures. We laughed to hear the babies make the same sounds our own little one makes, and the babbling sounded remarkably similar too, even though 3 of the babies in the movie were in non-English speaking homes. Other things that were similar to my baby and these other babies was the way that they interact with their environment. Everything goes in the mouth, mischief abounds, and they are eager to discover the world around them. And, let’s not forget that everything is a toy! Even a simple rock and stone.
My children giggled at this film which has very little dialogue and thoroughly enjoyed watching these babies interact with their environment. We were amazed at some of the differences too. Like the baby bathing in Mongolia only to have a goat come and drink out of his bathwater, and the mothers in Namibia that did not have their babies in any sort of diapers. I cringed a little as I watched the baby in Namibia crawl around in the dirt and eat a lot of it too! But, I marveled at the Japanese baby’s modern environment.
What astonished me the most though was how my little baby watched the movie! He sat in his Daddy’s lap and was captivated for 79 minutes as he watched the babies on screen. Of course, he crawled around and played while he watched too, but for the most part, he was really watching! If only I could see into his little brain to know what he was thinking!
While there were plenty of differences, it was fun to see the similarities between how all humans begin their lives. We are all babies. All innocent. And, all a special gift.
*Photo courtesy of Morguefile.com