My 1-year-old is better than me

Occasionally, it’s hard not to get jealous of my 16-month-old.
Especially when Mom comes to visit.
I take the “oohs” and “awwws” and “how cutes” from all the hot women I run into as a source of pride. I helped create Jayden, after all, and I gave him those long, darling eyelashes that everyone just gushes over. I also think he’s pretty cute myself.
So I don’t get jealous there.
I take the “look at how talented he is” comments with a grain of salt. Basically everyone underestimates babies. If they can go through a day without getting a lot of poop on their foreheads, everyone thinks they’re going to design the next particle accelerator.
So I don’t get jealous there either.
But Mom comes to town, as she is now, and a small part of me, just a small part, sometimes gets a little annoyed. She’s obviously there to see Jayden.
Her grandson.
My friends have told stories about how their parents’ attention shifts once they poke out a kid or two. I was prepared for that. Mostly.
Jared, one of my best friends, is a veteran Dad. I basically see him as the Phil Ivey of dads for all you poker players. So he fills me in on little bits of advice. He loves to tell a story about a visit from his mother.
I’ll get some of the details wrong, but basically his mother, upon her greeting, was in the backseat with his two boys for a good 20 minutes before Jared finally said, “Oh, by the way, hi Mom.”
I greeted Mom at the airport, so I knew that wouldn’t happen.
But since then a lot of her attention has gone to Jayden.
Now it’s not fair for me to say Mom’s ignored me. In fact, the break from all Taz, all the time, has been nice. Jayden, shall we say, likes to explore and seems to have an unlimited reservoir of energy in which to do so.
But Mom came out to visit, maybe, once a year. This time she said she plans to come out every four months. And she said, once, “I’m out here to get my grandchild fix.”
Don’t I count?
Sometimes that thought creeps through. But I can’t allow myself to think that way.
And here’s why.
The package may be funnier and cuter. And a lot more adorable.
But when she comes out to see Jayden, she’s still seeing me.