Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Do Women Who Baby Their Husbands Want Babies?

A light advice piece in CNN.com's Living section shows women nurturing their husbands too much, to the point of treating them as babies. The experts they cite note that while this can work for some couples, it is generally a bad idea as it makes the men helpless and incompetent, or resentful. Or both.

What surprised me about this account is that they did not indicate whether these couples had children. A wife who babies her husband (or dog, or the neighbor's kid) would seem to me to be sending signals that she is very ready for children. If she continued to baby her husband while also babying her baby, then I would worry.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

"If she continued to baby her husband while also babying her baby, then I would worry."

And if she does not continue to baby the husband while babying her baby how does the husband deal with that? Does he feel neglected and hurt? Or does he adapt?

Gruntled said...

I think they should talk about how having a baby changes both of their priorities. They should both baby the baby, which in turn should help them relate to one another better as equal grownups.

cynic1 said...

Hey, if my wife wants to baby me, I don't mind being helpless, incompetent or resentful.

Do you think I can get her to mow the lawn, too?