The Baby-Care Machines

By Li Qin-yi

Even before I became a father I had already had enough of wise advice. My parents said, "It's not easy being a parent. Now you'll find out." Friends with children said, "It's a whole new experience, the New World of human life. Babies keep you working all day. And working very hard, too." The pastor said, "Babies are gifts from God. They are God's property, entrusted to you. You must take good care of them."

But my child's birth brought me many unexpected joys as well as all the unexpected work. As baby's daddy watching baby's exhausted mommy, I immediately took over responsibility for changing diapers, for scrubbbing bottles, for getting all the family groceries and for doing the laundry for the whole family. Even when I was at work, household chores still occupied much of my brain.

I could have handled all this if that were the end of the list. But our Finnish nurse told us that two weeks after the baby's birth we should take him outdoors for one or two hours each day for fresh air. In northern Europe, the outside temperature in March was ten degrees below zero and the streets were packed with snow. Go outdoors? Even adults found it hard to handle. But the nurse insisted that it would be fine for the baby as long as we took along plenty of blankets as well as his sleeping bag.

We struggled, but finally after a month we took the baby out. To our surprise, the baby really liked the fresh air. He slept much better outside than inside. The red rash on his body went away too. So it became a part of my daily routine to take a walk with the baby in a stroller. The only problem was that I thought one or two hours were too precious to waste like this. I tried to do something else at the same time. I tried reading a book or the newspaper but it didn't work. So I decided I would kill time by just doing some wild thinking.

The result of my wild thinking was inventing a set of baby-care machines. Pushing a stroller along is a waste of time, but you could probably consider using a treadmill instead. Just put the stroller onto a treadmill and adjust it to the proper speed. The baby won't know the difference and the adults can then read a book or surf the net. Nice idea!

Changing diapers is a hassle too. So perhaps a diaper-changing machine wouldn't be so bad. A computer-controlled machine with robotic arms could take off the baby's pants, remove the wet diaper, blow dry the baby's bottom, apply oil, put on a new diaper and then put on the pants. All of this would need to be done quickly. There would be a couple of toys on the machine too, to catch the baby's attention. Wouldn't that be nice for the adults?

I continued dreaming and came up with some more ideas: a patting machine to pat the baby's back to stop him throwing up; a sleeping machine could hold the baby the way an adult does and it would never find its arms aching and it would be super patient. Then there would be the combing machine, the shampoo-ing machine, the hand-washing machine, the language-teaching machine and so on. From the names you can tell what a great help these would all be to parents. This set of caring machines would liberate dads and free up moms. Furthermore, under this professional care the babies would become obedient and smart. Great ideas!

While I was day-dreaming, the baby woke up and gave me a big smile. Joy filled my heart. Then I began to laugh at myself and all my notions about caring machines. These things would create a distance between the parents and the child and would eliminate all the joys of raising children. A baby's first cry, his first look, first suck, first smile, first handshake, first word and first nod will all be a part of our lasting memories. A baby can be annoying sometimes, but as he gains weight every month and as he gets to know you better, all that annoyance is no annoyance at all.

"Children are gifts from God." How true this is! Firstly, in our own communication with our child, we come to sense all the care, love and hardship our own parents had for us.

Secondly, our heavenly Father created mankind and raised us without using these caring machines. He is always available to us in person. He listens to our requests and prayers and his provision and arrangements are the best of all. He loves us and he never stops working for us. He is a responsible father, the great example for all fathers in the world.

Thirdly, as I was dreaming about these caring machines and then laughing at my ideas, I once again realized that our heavenly Father is revealed to us through every single detail of our daily life. Our baby was only three months old. By the time he has grown into adulthood, he will certainly have surprised me with tons of questions. But in our prayers, our heavenly Father will teach me how to raise my child, just as He is patiently leading me toward Heaven!

Watching the baby, deep in sleep, I stopped day-dreaming. My only hope was for him to grow up in a world of happiness, so that one day I could tell him about our Father's love.

The author came from China. He used to live in Finland and now lives in Vancouver, Canada.