'Billicking' cord

My daughter has loved babies ever since I can remember.  She can't get enough of them or anything to do with them.  She jumps into friends' car-seats at the first opportunity, she hijacks pushchairs and acts like a mother hen around anyone even a fraction younger than herself.

When she was about 18 months old she began to take an interest in dolls.  We had been given a huge baby type doll by aunt.  It had been my cousin's when she was a girl and was probably almost as old as I was.  I actively encouraged her interest, as I was already 3 months pregnant with her brother and I thought this would help her understanding of my pregnancy and ward off any jealousy.  Well it worked.  She was good as gold and very loving when her brother came along.  She was smitten with him and loved cradling him in her arms whenever she could.

Since then, her interest in babies has not waned a bit, but now we've progressed to giving birth to them too.  Apparently she's had 101 babies already and I have been the mid-wife at most of these births!  The first was quite spectacular.  She suddenly announced that she had a baby in her tummy and it was coming now,  so I had to rush over to the sofa to attend the imminent birth.  She knew full well that babies come out of your 'nani', but this was the first time she'd simulated pushing an over-sized doll through it!  I told her to get on all fours on the sofa and I would pull as she pushed.  Then she said "ooh, I can see the legs," so I had to explain all about breech births while my husband rolled his eyes next door in the kitchen.  You'll be glad to know the baby survived its breech birth and my daughter has gone on to have many more successful births since then.

As is the way, with kids growing up, I'm less needed these days.  Nowadays, my mid-wifery skills are less in demand than they were because she is 'married' to her brother and he also gets to play the mid-wife.  The other day, after giving birth on the bathroom floor with my son in attendance of course, she proudly announced to me that her husband was such a good daddy he had even cut the 'billicking' cord!

By Mummy Dearest