Street Fest Parents

Brian and I worked as volunteer bartenders this past Saturday at a German heritage festival in our old neighborhood. Now that we're expecting our own child, I find myself noticing couples with babies out in public. And then I find myself judging them.

First I saw what was maybe a two month old, out in the sun with no hat on, his bald head and crinkled face exposed and squinting. I wanted to take him from his mom's shoulder and run under the festival tent to the safety of shade.

Then I saw what looked like a caravan of babies in strollers, travel systems and car seats (one infant had been set on the sidewalk in hers), their parents socializing and drinking their steins of imported beer, occasionally rocking them or looking down to make sure their baby wasn't the one that was crying (it was hard to tell over the live music coming from the stage 30 feet away). They were situated, strategically or not, directly behind the porta potties. I suppose it would be more disgusting if they were in front of them, right?

As they day went on, and the nearby Cubs game ended, the festival got more crowded. But the parents and their babies all stayed, continuing to drink in the sun. I assume they went home after 7, the time of my last trip to the bathrooms.

I hope we can be one of those families who isn't tethered to their house just because there's some extra equipment and a small person to bring along. I hope we still get out and enjoy the city. But, I don't know, is a festival whose main attraction is Hofbrau served by the liter really the place for a newborn?