What Would You Do?

I felt like I was on 'What Would You Do?' TV show today in the park. How long will you let a baby cry before you step in to help? My sister-in-law, niece and nephew, parents, Joe, Lincoln, and I went to a park in Beaufort on Saturday morning. When we arrived, we heard a baby crying. A man was sitting on a bench holding a baby. Joe made a comment about someone not being happy. We played for a while, but off and on for the next 30-minutes we kept hearing the baby cry. We played on some equipment closer and I saw him check her diaper (which was cloth) and he seemed frustrated as he was getting stuff out of the diaper bag by slamming stuff on the bench. She had a messy poop (probably from all the crying). It took him forever to change and dress her. I couldn't even focus on playing with my son because I was so distracted by the crying baby. We moseyed our way closer so I stopped by the bench and asked if she needed something to eat. He said that she was breastfed and that her mother should be here any time. He said she was teething too. The mom had walked to a yoga class around the corner with his wife so the baby wasn't even his. He was just watching her until she came back. So I sat on the bench with him and the baby until the mom arrived. I asked him how old she was and he said he didnt know, maybe 12-months, but the baby didn't have any teeth and couldn't walk so she wasn't 12-months. I wiped her nose and offered to hold her, but he wouldn't let me. I asked him why couldn't call the mom and why she didn't leave milk for him. He kept saying she's on her way. I kept wishing my milk was in so I could nurse her myself! The most frustrating part was that he wasn't trying very hard to comfort her. She just sat on his lap and he'd give her a pacifier. If it were me, I would have walked around with her, tried pushing her in the stroller, tried swinging her on the bench swing, a car ride...He acted clueless and what is sad is he had a 3-year-old of his own at the park too. So the mom and his wife come walking up with their yoga mats. He said to the baby she's not going to believe you were crying (because she'd stopped for a couple of minutes). I said, "Yes she will. Her face is red." I told the mom she has been crying for about an hour. The Marine said it wasn't an hour. He walks away to smoke a cigarette. I told her I tried helping. She said he could have called and that normally his wife watches her. I was glad age was back and then she sat on a bench and nursed her baby.