The Penguin Revelation

My wife and I went out to dinner last night. While we were enjoying dinner a baby somewhere in the restaurant started to cry. The sound of her sobs had an uncanny resemblance to the way Baby J sounds when she gets upset. I would guess that most folks, especially those who don't have young kids, would say that all babies sound the same when they cry. It's not true.

I hear babies cry all the time at the mall, at playgroup, and every time I take candy from them. There's nothing special about it. But when this baby in the restaurant started to cry, it sounded different. It sounded like it was a baby my wife and I needed to tend to. Not exactly like Baby J but very similar.

It reminds me of that scene in March of the Penguins when the mama or papa penguin comes marching back from the sea and calls out to the huddled mass of bird at the breeding grounds. Somewhere in that huddle mass, their chick hears them, recognizes them, and responds. In time, every adult penguin finds their chick using this call/response method.

Even though to us, they all sound the same, look the same, and blend into the throng of birds, every penguin knows each other by sound.

I guess there is something universal in parenthood across the animal kingdom. You know your baby in ways that others couldn't even begin to distinguish.