The baby goes everywhere

Maybe it’s because I work from home and we’re never, ever apart, but I’m totally that mom who takes her baby with her everywhere. From our friends’ annual holiday cocktail party to the rare dinner out with my husband when our other three are busy at grandma and papa’s house, she goes where I go. My friends—the ones with very small children and babies of their own—think I’m crazy, but they all work out of the home, too. I swear it makes a difference.
I actually have a side gig as a fitness director at a martial arts studio close by, so I do get a few hours away every week when I leave all the kiddos in my husband’s supremely capable hands. I also schedule almost everything on the one weekday he has off—I’m not dragging the baby to my hair appointment or client meetings or the dentist. But I’ve never left her with anyone besides her dad, and she’s knocking on six months. And it’s not that I don’t trust my mom or my husband’s parents to look after her. I just know how it’s going to play out, and it’s not well. I’ll be distracted the whole time, wondering how she’s doing, which pretty much sucks the fun right out of dinner and a movie. She may be OK at first, but at some point pretty early on she’s going to note my absence and freak out about it, eventually screaming herself into that horrible silence with those full-body shudders. And whoever is stuck watching her is going to be totally traumatized. How is this a good time for anyone? And what is the point of doing this when she’s still so portable?
But before you think I’m the lady with the baby at the movies, let me stop you. Yes, I take my baby wherever I go, but then again, I don’t go to many places these days. I can’t remember the last time I saw a movie. I haven’t been snowboarding in years. We declined the last wedding invitation that discreetly but clearly stated, “Adults only reception.”
So while I am totally on board with the idea that some places are just not baby-friendly, while my mama’s girl is still just that, I guess we’ll both be missing out. But not really.