Thursday, June 11, 2009

Guest post: Stuck on you

Several weeks ago, I was supposed to go on vacation, and several awesome readers of this blog volunteered to write guest posts for me to use while I was gone. Well, due to a family emergency (not in my family), the vacation was cancelled, but I was left with these fantastic guest posts! I'm digging one out for today, since I'm busy preparing for my parents to come spend a few days with us. I hope you enjoy ElleBee's post!

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Hello all you wonderful C.Beth readers!

In the blogosphere, I go by ElleBee. I author two blogs: "Musings of a Working Diva" and "Enthusiastically ElleBee". IRL, I'm married with two boys, Sweet Son #1 and The Manimal. I work full-time outside the home and in my nearly non-existent spare time, I'm very involved with our church.

C.Beth writes a lot about her little ones, as so many bloggers do. Anyone with children could probably rattle off a list of things they've learned from parenting. In my very first "real" blog post, I wrote about a discovery I'd made--an affliction shared by all male humans, regardless of age: Male Pattern Blindness. Simply put, Male Pattern Blindness is the inability of males to see something unless it is right in front of their eyes.

Recently, a friend of mine, Carolyn, reminded me of another syndrome, this one associated with all children of particular ages. Boys and girls alike, most often affecting older infants, certain toddlers, and even some in the 'tween stage.

She calls it "Human Velcro", and defines it as the desire for children to be no further than two inches from their maternal parental figure at all times.


My youngest nephew, Baby Bean, is 18 months old and is thoroughly infected with Human Velcro Syndrome (HVS). Diva Nana and Diva Papa took Sweet Son #1 to Texas to visit over Spring break. My older nephews, Tex (age 6) and Sir Falls-a-Lot (age 5) were THRILLED to see their grandparents and cousin. Baby Bean, on the other hand was thrilled as well.

From a distance.

Any time he was approached by an adult other than mom, he was, well...let's just say he was LESS than thrilled.

Both of my boys went through it. Sweet Son #1 went through a few days where he would scream "Mommmeeee!" at the top of his lungs if I went out of his sight, for even a minute or two. When The Manimal realized that he wasn't physically attached to me, and I could actually separate my body from his, he started saying "Hold you!", which he still says to this day when he wants me to hold him.

Lately, though, I've started wondering if this syndrome isn't contagious. Princess the Wonder Dog has recently begun following me around the house. I can't turn around too quickly or without checking the floor first, because I'm liable to trip over a fur child.

Perhaps we've discovered a rare case of Canine Velcro Syndrome.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

This is cute--I'll have to check out her blog later!!

Call Me Cate said...

I have a cat with some sort of Proximity Syndrome. She doesn't want to be attached or even acknowledged. In fact, please don't pet her or speak to her. But she needs to be in the same room at all times.

Vacationing with my 14-mo nephew this week, there's definitely some velcro action happening.

Janna said...

OH no! I should not have read this. My anxiety level just went up:) I'll be taking my one year old on an international trip next month by myself.

My neck may end up looking like a cat attacked me by the time we get from Guam to the states. I'll be posting about our travels soon.

caryn said...

My two dogs have the Velco syndrome! It is just a matter of time before I trip over them and sprain an ankle! Great guest post, I'm off now to check her blogs out.

2cats said...

Whenever a male is sent to look for something or he is looking for himself (it could happen), he will be looking at the ceiling.
I am not sure what world they live in, but in their world everything ends up on the ceiling.
That is why they can't find what is in front of them.
Nice post.

Kim Lehnhoff said...

ElleBee,
VHS, huh? It has a name? All this time, I've been thinking my 13 year old son was channeling lint!

Is there a cure?

Scriptor Senex said...

Human Velcro Syndrome - how great is that. It also applies to paternal parent figures from what I recall.

silver star said...

Sometimes, I think my cat has Feline Velcro Syndrome. I've had many close calls tripping over her, she hates it when doors are closed, and sometimes makes a nice alarm clock. But when company comes over, she's no where to be found. Great guest post!