November 17, 2007 | parenthood
We’d been out a bit too late, and I’d given Lizi’s baby a bit too much attention, and therefore we were having a grumpy evening. Even In the Night Garden, the intravenous morphine of TV shows, didn’t really hold the Fecklet’s attention. He was tired, he was cranky, he didn’t feel like drinking milk or playing and he didn’t even fancy walking to the bathroom. He sat himself down on the bathroom floor, complained while I undressed him, and prepared himself for a good long whinge while I drew his bath.
And then…he spotted the pair of socks he’d left in the bathroom earlier, and forgotten about.
Joy. Bliss. One sock in each hand, to wave around and shout at. Even better, he was naked so he got to feel the slight breeze the socks made as they whooshed through the air. And then he discovered that when he brought socks into the bath, they got all lovely and wet and he could suck water out of them. He sucked one, and then the other, and then the first one again. Sock-flavoured bath water…nectar of the gods.
The happiness was so long-lasting that he didn’t even protest when I put on his pyjamas, and he went straight off to sleep, no doubt dreaming of socks.
In my opinion, this is proof that babies have some sort of hormones that make them feel as if they are on major drugs.
Biddy says:
I think you need to start worrying about this sock addiction…
Jen says:
I’m probably way, way behind - I’ve just found your blog - what’s the history behind calling the child Fecklet?????
Julie says:
Do you think he will become a sock junkie? Roaming the streets looking for his next sock fix???
Jen, I call my son Fecklet because on eHarlequin’s community boards, I’ve become known as Feckless. (It’s a long story involving too many Julies, and a line from my first published book.) When I got published, they started calling me Feckled, and when I got pregnant, they said I was with Fecklet (or, had it been a girl, Fecklette).
Thus his online name was born.
Glad you found your way here!
MichelleStyles says:
Hopefully, you will take away how easily distracted toddlers can be. They have the ability to instensely focus on one thing and one thing alone, but they can be distracted.
Chris Wing says:
I am loving the saga of Fecklet and socks
Such a Julie/DrSuess book you are writing!!!!
Danielle Peck says:
Hey Julie! Long time no ’see’. I haven’t been around much lately but I thought I’d swing in and see how things were going with you and the young Fecklet. At least it’s only socks he’s attached to and not something more sinister
Karen says:
Ah Julie I haven’t been by here in a long time. I can’t believe how much he’s grown! So cute. And so in love with socks. LOL
Kimberly AKA Problem Child says:
Well, my kid took a liking to potatoes. Yep, raw potatoes. We’d find potatoes everywhere –dressed up in Mardi Gras beads, having tea parties, down inside other toys… (Honestly, I was waiting for her to burst into tears one day when her “friends” ended up on her dinner plate.)
Of course, a few potatoes went into hiding and didn’t get found for a while–ugh, the smell of rotten potatoes isn’t a good thing, especially when you’re not entirely sure where the child might have stuck one.
Melissa Blue says:
Socks are the new thing. I work at a drug rehab center I should know.
My son discovered his belly button. (It was an outtie) They had three great years together before he had surgery. He was sad for a while, but he got over it and now he thinks he’s sexy with his new innie. (I suspect he’s going to be a Chippendale *sp?*) He demands to go shirtless everywhere.
You’ve got to love your kids.
Julie says:
Michelle, Fecklet can be distracted from almost anything by socks. I haven’t yet tried to distract him FROM the socks.
Chris: He always wants to chew his socks. He wants to chew them in a box. He wants to chew them in the hall. He wants them! Wants them! Wants them all!
Hey Danielle, you are right, socks aren’t that bad. Except when they are really dirty. Nice to see you!
Julie says:
Hi Karen! Yes he is cute but he is weird.
Kimberly, that is hilarious. I laughed at the image of a potato dressed up in Mardi Gras beads.
Melissa, I guess it is better he wants to display that part of himself rather than the bits a little lower down.
amanda ashby says:
Julie, may that he always be so easily pleased!!!!!!!
Julie says:
True, very very true, Amanda.
Chris Wing says:
Julie, I knew you could do it!!
I laughed
I laughed out loud
I shall not chew my socks
I shall not chew my toes
After I eat the turkey I shall not see my toes
Anna Adams says:
Julie, I love your boy’s sock tales! With my girl, it was newspaper. That was not at all purty!