Babies

I watched the documentary "Babies" yesterday, and it was incredible.
I think that I was so inclined to it because of the scenery. I love movies and books that really take me somewhere. And majors, too. Thank God I live in a world where Hospitality is actually a major.
They were absolutely breathtaking. The "attention to detail" in gathering the shots of Tokyo to showcase every small light, all gathering to create such a beautiful, man made scene. The "homey" feeling of Mongolians who live on a ranch in what seems to be a hut, yet still get cable somehow. The African foliage and raised mountains as a backdrop to the simplest lifestyle in Namibia. And then back here in the United States, showcasing a typical white family in a typical box in San Francisco.
Somehow I grew bitter of how we raise our children. Maybe I am just bored with America altogether, although I have never been to San Francisco. Actually I have never been west of the Mississippi. Well, St. Louis, but still.
The babies in San Francisco and Tokyo, show how much we have taken over. Raise your children the "right" way. Sit them in front of the electronic baby-sitter, good ole television, and switch on the Baby Einstein. Hopefully it can teach them until you send them off to junior-junior kindergarten so someone else you hire can takeover. Keep them on the same right track. Stay inside the house. Play in our backyard, our neighborhood. Don't do that. It will hurt. Time to go to 2 year old ballet. Bring up your grades in every subject, don't specialize. Be a generally good person.
In Africa and Namibia, the children don't necessarily roam free, but they are free to explore as they like. Falling is not an over dramaticized event. They fall, cry, and get back up on their own. They explore on their own. Their curiousity is not stopped. Their socializing is not refrained. I mean the movie opens with two of these babies, so young, socializing together. It escalades to a fight over a small bottle. You can hear a mother in the background. But she doesn't step-in. She isn't here to fight his battles. She is there to care for him afterwards, when he crawls back after losing the fight.
Both the African and Mongolian child are also close to animals. Their parents dont stop them from petting or even leaning against cows, goats, cats, or dogs. An American mother would freak and then sanitize thoroughly. How is it that we have such a high infant mortality and their's is no where near ours?
Anytime the scenes jumped back to Tokyo or San Francisco, I felt my mind wander. I have seen baby classes before. I have seen the city. This upbringing bores me, I can't imagine what it does to a stimulation-hungry baby.