Babies in Review

Phil and I got the chance to see Babies recently. I have been wanting to see it since I first heard about it long time ago, and it is currently playing in select theaters (we had to drive about 30 minutes). Here's the trailer if you're interested.

Long story short:

I LOVED it!

Short story long:

There were so many wonderful scenes from the first year of life of the four babies. It is amazing how differently we are all raised in various parts of the world, yet how similar we all are. For example, just watching all the babies getting cleaned - one gets in the shower with Dad, one gets a bath, one gets licked by her Mom, and one gets breast milk squirted in her face and then wiped down.

All of the moms in the movie breastfed their babies, but the African moms who don't even wear shirts are truly breastfeeding on demand. They are nursing babies and toddlers at the same time, and will simply bend over while walking to let their baby have a drink. It's really beautiful and reminds me of how God's plan is supposed to work....if we could all just spend all day with our babies and our shirts off ;)

There are a couple of gross instances, like when one baby poops on his mother's leg. And another baby gets a piece of what looks like cow intestine with a match in it to suck on as a pacifier - blech! Speaking of pooping, I was shocked to see how so many babies around the world don't wear diapers of any kind. They just go bottomless and pee and poop wherever. It must make potty training very easy, but my OCD personality could not handle that.

And the funny scenes - there are so many! A goat drinking out of the baby's bath water, the American baby eating a banana and handing her dad the skin, piece by piece, and each individual string until she finally eats it (my kids do this too!). The brothers and friends fighting with the babies, and the babies standing up for themselves. It's wonderful to see what happens before the baby breaks down and cries for Mom...they are pretty tough! The Mongolian baby was always very humorous, he stole Phil's heart. But the funniest scene for me involved the African baby sucking on her brothers belly button because she mistook it for a nipple :)

I think there is a great pro-life message in this movie as well because even though there are so many different families, economic situations, dangers, and struggles - these babies are all born and raised with love. It makes me rethink my "financial" reasons to use NFP to postpone our next child. Phil even was thinking about using the movie in his high school morality class until he realized there were "too many breasts for teenage boys". Ha!

Anyway, if you get a chance, go see it, or rent it when it comes out. But be forewarned, you might leave wanting to have another baby!!!