Thursday, April 20, 2006

Breaks and fat babies

I'm taking a break. I finished edits and then thought about it for a while. Then I went over the whole thing once more and found a few more spots to be sanded smooth. I usually wait 24 hours after I finish edits before sending off a book. I learned this after a rather burlesque back and forth e-mail frenzy with one editor. Now I finish, wait, re-read, rewrite, and then reread once more before I hit send. Nothing more aggravating than hitting 'send' and finding a new adn wonderful silly typo in your text.
As you can tell from my blog typos I do not do that with my blog posts. In fact, I tend to rush through these as they areoften spur of the moment posts like this, brought on by a brain melt-down (I've been writing for ten hours and I need a BREAK!) or, as in this case, pictures of my new neice. She is adorable, blond, blue-eyed, cuddly, calm, and horribly obese. I want to take my brother and shake him silly. A six month old baby should not look like a weeble. (Weebles wobble but they don't fall down.) Babies should have necks. They should have knees and ankles. Will someone please tell this family to stop stuffing this child? The worse thing is I absolutely adore my brother. And I'm going to see the bundle of joy in a few months. I can just imagine how much fatter she'll get. A chubby baby is cute. A fat baby just looks stuffed - as if it might explode any second. And she was such a beautiful newborn. *sigh* I suppose it really isn't my problem. I am just the aunt. And I suppoes also that saying anything will just make everyone uncomfortable. And angry. After all - children are like your books. You hate any sort of criticsm, just look at authors comments when they get a bad review. You'd think someone said their baby was fat, for heaven's sake.
So, there are some things I will never do.
Never tell my brother his baby is fat.
Never tell a reviewer she or he is a bad reviewer because they didn't 'get' my book.
Never tell an agent/publisher "Look, you passed on this project but so and so took it!" (after all - it could go on to be a Resounding Flop)
(I just read this on an agent's blog and I was astounded. People actually do this?)
I will also never go bungy jumping, but that is because I'm a chicken and has nothing to do with manners.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember when my niece was born, my mom wouldn't let my brother alone. WHY DOESN'T SHE HAVE ANY HAIR? Like there's an answer to a question like that! She pestered them something fierce until the girl finally grew a head of hair. That's my mom for ya.

Sam said...

LOL about the hair. I had twins - one was bald, the other had thick hair - go figure.
It is tough, Chey, and I would honestly never say anything. (it's good to be able to vent in a blog)
I also figure fat kids have health problems and their doctor will say something, but my sister in law is fat, and her son (my brother's step son) is enormous, so I guess there is nothing to be done about it, so I shouldn't worry.
But I do.
*sigh*
Good health is so important.

Gabriele Campbell said...

The problem is that she'll have weight problems all her life if no one tells the parents it's wrong to stuff a baby. Do they really want a teenage girl that has no friends because she's fat, or a kid who develops anorexia?

Someone should tell them. Best backed up with some information. It's a pity so few doctors nowadays take the time to actually talk with their patients, or in this case the parents. A pediatrist should see there's a big fat problem lurking and speak tacheles with the parents.

Stacia said...

Fat baby is bad enough, but try telling your brother you think his kid is a miserable, horrible brat.

I've never been brave enough.

Sam said...

LOL - OK - that is a good point - I think I'm right keeping my thoughts to myself and only griping on my blog.

Bernita said...

My babies were born with that faint fuzz like unto a worn teddy bear.
Got tired of the no hair comments, so started telling people, babe was a dwarf - and bald.