Current Events > Gf is babysitting a terrible little child but he seems to really like me

(+) Yeah! (+)

What do

He keeps laughing and smiling and showing me things

Baby children usually don't like me

He's like a year and a half almost
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Sounds to me like you're gonna be helping your gf babysit lol
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Wait, what makes him terrible? He sounds like a normal kid....what with the laughing and smiling and showing you his favorite toys, etc.
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ZCheveyo posted...

Wait, what makes him terrible? He sounds like a normal kid....what with the laughing and smiling and showing you his favorite toys, etc.

That's out of the norm behavior. He cries like 80% of the time usually
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Does the kid have a dad at home?

An active dad that interacts with him....?
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ClockworkHare posted...

Does the kid have a dad at home?

An active dad that interacts with him....?

I honestly dunno. Am I this kid's dad now?
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Timohtep posted...

ClockworkHare posted...

Does the kid have a dad at home?

An active dad that interacts with him....?

I honestly dunno. Am I this kid's dad now?

yes
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Timohtep posted...

What do

He keeps laughing and smiling and showing me things

Baby children usually don't like me

He's like a year and a half almost

Play with the kid
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Timohtep posted...

ClockworkHare posted...

Does the kid have a dad at home?

An active dad that interacts with him....?

I honestly dunno. Am I this kid's dad now?

It's not a universal thing, but sometimes when a small child has only had interaction with the mom and people who look similar, seeing someone who looks dramatically different can hook the child's curiosity. And that curiosity can encourage attachment.

This often gets misunderstood as the child being "naturally compelled to find a father figure ". That does happen, but not nearly as often as people presume. If the child has mostly only spent his/her existence around the mother and those who have similar traits (other women, girls), meeting someone noticeably larger/louder/masculine/more energetic looking than Mommy can cause the kid to think "woah....who's that ". Just basically anyone who looks significantly different than what the mother looks like. Sometimes seeing someone that different frightens the child (existential revelation: "omg there's other people and they don't look like Mommy "). Other times it peaks interest. Especially when the new person is more interesting than the mother.

This is a common case with small children raised by single parents. Children have a natural learning instinct to pursue curiosities (for the sake of survival). And bonds can be created while they do this.


Although I wouldn't take it too seriously. As a man outside of the family, you could just be the temporary "uncle" the kid has a good time with for a while before being forgotten. Despite the likelihood of the bond being short-lived, it can still be significantly beneficial for the child to have social exposure to people besides the home family. That early experience does a bit of "hard wiring" in their brain that will be the foundation of their social skills at later ages. Even if the kid forgets you some day, any fun times you had will help him emotionally develop enough to find more down the road.
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Neat. I'm a dad now I guess
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