My First Encounter with my Niece

Babies are beautiful, drooling, adorable tiny creatures that make everyone’s life beautiful. They are radiant and spread happiness cute-dollwhere ever they go. These lines might remind you of a typical baby column but, there are some truths that these columnists hide from us. Babies are wonderful, until you have to feed them, make them sleep and above all clothe them for the first time.

When my niece was first presented to us by the nurse she reminded me of a tiny porcelain doll, stark white with flushes of pink around her cheeks. She was very intelligent for her age but, then again maybe everyone thinks that when they first have a baby in the family.

When the nurse handed her over to me, she was wrapped in a fluffy pink towel. She gave us a pair of clothes to dress her in and left. My sister and I stared at each other in horror for we realised what a mammoth task awaited us. My sister held her carefully as I picked up her clothes and thus began our ordeal. She was limp as all babies are and we were literally afraid that we’d break her. An hour into it the nurse walked in to check in on us and was amused to find us struggling. She laughed and asked if this was the first time we were dressing a baby and we nodded in unison. She picked my niece with one hand and clothed her with the other with such finesse and precision that it resembled the ballet, I kid you not. It took her fifteen seconds to be exact.

Every time the nurses saw us after that day during my sister’s stay at the hospital they used to snicker at our incompetence. But, all I could think to myself was I’m glad that’s over. The initial anxiety that flooded me when we tried clothing her soon gave way to this overwhelming feeling of love that I will forever treasure in my heart. Babies are beautiful, drooling, adorable tiny creatures that make everyone’s life beautiful. But, above all babies make you feel the kind of love that you never will and never can feel for another human being.

Contributed by:

Shilpi

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