Sophie is no longer a baby. I know that. But in certain instances I’m struck by how un-baby she’s become. Like the above instance. I often turn on PBS in the morning, for about the length of one show. Up until now, she’s maybe glanced at it, but she hasn’t really paid attention to it. Recently, I unloaded the dishwasher and came back into the living room to see this—it’s a pose we’ve all assumed, as children, when watching TV. As an adult, I prefer the couch. But seeing her in this pose I was reminded of myself, years ago, in the same pose, enjoying my half-hour-a-day TV allowance. Not a baby. But definitely a kid.
“Television has changed the American child from an irresistible force to an immovable object.” —Laurence J. Peter