Friday, February 17, 2006
Sweetness
My baby is sweet. She's so sweet sometimes I can't stand it. She sleeps sweetly, smiles sweetly, looks around sweetly. We call her Sweetie. Or Sweet Sweetie. We say, "The Sweetie is sleeping sweetly." Sweet sweet sweet.
But it's occurred to me: what exactly do we mean when we say a baby (my baby in particular) is sweet? If you were to call ME sweet, it would mean that I am kind, sensitive, or had done something particularly thoughtful. Ellie is many things, but she's not thoughtful. So why do I call her sweet? Why the different definition of sweetness between babies and adults?
I think when we call a baby sweet, what we mean is that she's innocent. More specifically, that she's without guile. She may not be particularly charitable, but she's certainly void of maliciousness. She may be a little selfish (when she's hungry, nothing else matters), but she is no respecter of persons. She's pure and undefiled and sweet. Sweet sweet sweet. If only I could be so sweet.
But it's occurred to me: what exactly do we mean when we say a baby (my baby in particular) is sweet? If you were to call ME sweet, it would mean that I am kind, sensitive, or had done something particularly thoughtful. Ellie is many things, but she's not thoughtful. So why do I call her sweet? Why the different definition of sweetness between babies and adults?
I think when we call a baby sweet, what we mean is that she's innocent. More specifically, that she's without guile. She may not be particularly charitable, but she's certainly void of maliciousness. She may be a little selfish (when she's hungry, nothing else matters), but she is no respecter of persons. She's pure and undefiled and sweet. Sweet sweet sweet. If only I could be so sweet.
Comments:
Yesterday Ellie was a pill. She cried and whined and wasn't very cheerful all day long. When we finally got her to stop yelling and go to bed, Shelly and I decided that today she had not been sweet. We refrained from calling her "Sweetie" all evening. So it must have something to do with behavior. She was still very physically cute, but she was not easy to deal with, so she was not sweet. Hm.
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