Beneath The Surface
It was the second time that evening, and Patricia could not but let out a frustrated hiss as she picked her two-year-old boy off the floor and placed him across her laps. She stared at the bump between his large eyes until it began to look like a third eyeball. The frequency with which he threw himself at hard surfaces was beginning to tire her out. He would trip over his little toy cars, shoes that were well out of his way and even his own feet. She had concluded that he enjoyed falling down and so his infant mind had found alibis in these insignificant triggers. She glanced at the crystal alarm clock seated on the top of the chest of drawers beside the bed. It was a few hours to happy hour. She had to put little Folu to bed before her husband returned from work. Since her husband agreed it was time to gradually wean their son off sharing their matrimonial bed, Patricia had fanned the happy hour flame into full existence. It was what kept her mind off Folu and his little abnormality. The only time she did not have to deal with in-laws that never failed to remind her that she was still a childless wife. To them, Folu was an evil, spirit baby that they did not really exist.
Patricia dipped her thumb into the open jar of ointment beside her. She placed her thumb over the bump and began to apply increasing pressure. She looked at him intensely. Her heart hoped to get a different reaction from those she was used to receiving. Thumb firm against the bump, she made slow circular motions. His eyelids shut and open in quick successions. She applied more pressure, her eyes still fixed on his face. He scrunched his nose and furrowed his brows. Her heart began to beat faster. She had thought about how she might react on the day he finally responded but she seemed to have forgotten all the scenarios now that it seemed like he was about to. Confident that this was the day whatever spell would be broken, she rubbed harder and faster. Folu’s lips quivered and he rubbed his left eye with his hand. He opened his eyes, looked up at his expectant mother’s face and smiled gleefully.
In the third trimester of Patricia’s pregnancy, the sound of babies crying had irritated her. She had absent-mindedly wished for a quiet baby. So when, a few hours after she had gone into labour and the new being had been pulled out of her, the hospital ward was missing a new cry, she was more thankful than worried. In the first few months of her son’s life, she had welcomed remarks about her good luck for being blessed with a quiet baby. The few insinuations from family and a few friends questioning the wholeness of her baby were met with sarcasm and dismissive remarks. One evening, about five months after the birth of her son, Patricia stepped out of the bathroom with her baby in her arms. She was struggling to fit her feet into her slippers when the power went out. She had barely walked two complete steps when her foot got caught under an obstacle. She tried to hold on to her baby as she fell to the ground but he slipped out of her hands a few centimetres to the floor. She heard the sound of his head hitting the ground, and then silence joined the darkness. She waited for him to yell, to cry out, but the only thing she heard was the playful sound he made each time he played with his hands or feet. She was frantic. More so, when all the paediatricians she consulted reassured her that he was healthy. Once, while she was preparing the bath, he had picked up a sewing needle and poked his palm continuously. She was stunned when she came out of the bathroom to find him singing along to the television and clapping his bloodied palms together. Each time she perused his first birthday pictures, the words ‘evil, spirit baby’ came to mind. She could not understand how he continued to play with the lit candle on his birthday cake without wanting to retract his fingers.
The sound of a car driving into the compound jerked Patricia out of her thoughts. She looked at the clock and then at Folu’s face. She sighed. Perhaps it was time to accept his condition and count it as a blessing. She thought of the happy hour with her husband and her spirit was brightened again.
“Oya Folu, daddy is home. Bed time!” She chirped as she carried him off her laps and lay him down on the bed.
Hurrying to retrieve the diaper from her wardrobe, she joined in the nursery rhyme Folu had started to sing. She had only opened the wardrobe when she heard glass smashing. She turned swiftly to find Folu about to walk, feet bare, on the smashed crystal alarm clock. Without thinking, she reached for him, lifted him with her left hand and smacked him repeatedly.
“Mummy, did daddy buy me something?” Folu asked as his mother continued to smack him.
Patricia stopped abruptly. She looked at Folu’s indifferent expression and threw him outside her bedroom.
“This child I am tired of you!” She yelled as she slammed her bedroom door shut.
She stood, back to the door and arms akimbo, and thought about what she had done. She had never been so infuriated neither had she ever treated her baby in that manner. She closed her eyes for a long minute, took a deep breath and opened the door. Her heart stopped when she looked to the ground.
“Folu?” She called out as she tapped his shoulder.
He looked up at her and her jaw dropped.
“Mummy… sorry,” he managed to say between sobs and gushing tears.
“Folu?” She called again. This time, almost in a whisper.
She crouched beside him and engulfed him in a tight embrace. She did not realise when the tears started to flow from her eyes. She carried him into his room and laid him on the bed. After wiping his tears, she kissed him and he smiled at her. She stood and watched him close his eyes. She bent down to kiss him again when she decided pinch his skin with her sharp nails. His eyes closed, Folu smiled and Patricia turned to leave. She was satisfied. His numbness was only skin deep.
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Hi, Marilyn here. Do ever wonder how mothers cope with their kids? For some, especially those who have experienced babies first hand, I’m sure the thought of wishing for a ‘quiet baby’ has crossed your mind. Let’s share our experiences and fears today. Use the comment box and express you.
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Ah
Ah Ah
I know someone like this… His numbness to pain usually infuriated our teachers back then in secondary school… Wish I had such numbness sha…
ok…this is just scary. he had emotions alright but a high pain threshold, right? No one can be numb, can they?
There's a disorder or a disease, I don't know which that keeps a person from feeling pain entirely. They are completely numb.
See the way i was close marking today’s post only to be beaten again:( not fair.
The child has got some mad high threshold for pain it has a medical term. ( Lucky child ) only thing is when such person is in serious danger its hard to know cos they can’t feel it so they need more attention than we minions.
My husband and I have high threshold for pain and I think my baby got it too. When she hurts herself or falls, she winces but will never cry. If you pinch her really hard, she'll frown at you and push your hand away but will not cry. But she's more likely to burst out in tears when you raise your voice at her.
i want your baby -______-
:D
BDSM #OkBye
Na you know oh
A physically numb baby, that's a new one
I've always prayed 4 kids dat won't send me to death wit deir tears but dis is too far
Got really worried at this part "“Mummy, did daddy buy me something?” Folu asked as his mother continued to smack him." gave me the jitters… I'd definitely in a like manner, maybe worse, but honestly in the end you love him still. I dunno if I want quiet kids or loud ones, but I do know I want them healthy.
What she said
i agree with nwanyi, i just want them very healthy.
Congenital Insensitivity to Pain and Anhidrosis(CIPA)/Hereditary Sensory and Autonomic Neuropathy type IV(HSAN IV).
They don't feel pain and they don't sweat.
*Now Googling*
wow!
Really great story! For someone who has experienced kids first hand I'd say this condition might be handy but if it goes on for a long time, you might start worrying
Half of infants with the condition die before three and most of the rest don’t live beyond 25years
It'll be hard to take care of a child who is numb to physical pain. You'll probably have to go see a doctor after every fall. Regular X-rays and MRI scans just because. Am I getting carried away? So if the child's appendix is on the verge of rupturing no one will have any idea? Very scary.
Still I'd pick a child who is numb to physical pain; a quiet child over one that can't feel any emotions. Zero conscience. A child can actually be born a sociopath. That has to be the worst.
I have heard of this condition before, where the child has a problem with detecting pain sensations and instead interpretes it as plaeasure. The child removed her eyes without knowing.
Its funny how we want good things in life forgetting that their infirmities is what completes them.
Be careful what you wish for, cause you just might get it.
This is one scary Baby!!!! Bad Guy Things
When I said I'd met a baby that didn't cry till 18 months, my story was dismissed as dodo.
Meanwhile I'm happy Betty is slowly coming out to play with the rest of us kids in the playground. :-D
Marilyn wrote this though.. Or, what playground is this?
You guys should take it easy. Having a child like this is not all bad.
Think of it, he does something, you don't have to raise a finger. Remember those times you made your father run around the compound chasing you and expending energy? You don't have to face that with this kind of child.
A simple "You messed up little man. I'm disappointed" will hurt him more than 60 cracks of the koboko (If you're into that kind of capital punishment).
I personally would not mind a child like this. Too easy to raise.
its terrible though if they are say out of sight and hurt themselves and you don't know till you find the trail of blood a few minutes later… i have an aunt that has to always watch her son because of it, worse 'cos he's a bit clumsy so he's pretty much run the gamut of possible injuries…
I never knew that their were numb people. Thought it was only people with diabetes. I don’t want a numb baby tho’
Great story! D baby is ogbanje sha. Leave story.
Nice story. I'd never heard of this disorder before. I have to admit a weepy baby will send me into postpartum depression, but an unhealthy baby is far worse, for me and for the baby.
Ok Lord, let the baby just be normal and healthy, weepy or not. Thanks.
mehn! no no! dont want this kinda baby ooooo ahan!
scary mehn!! especially at the infant stage, when they dont know what's right from what's not… imagine a baby carrying bottle and smashing it on his head….no pain, he does it again no pain and he is bleeding no feeling,no screams…..he can even bleed to death without knowing or another putting his hand in fire and keeping it dere till someone come around…wat!!! d thought is driving me crazy. these children would have to av body guards that would be like their shadow……
wait oooo watabout internal pains??? mehn! i give up!
comes around*
I won’t say I’ve never prayed for a quiet baby; but a baby that feels no pain at all? That’s a different matter entirely. I just want a normal baby, abeg. What if he/she decides to ‘swim’ in the bath tub(y’all know u did that) and then drown? My husband will kill me, right before i kill myself!
wow….. LORD pls give me a normal baby