Playing "My Fake Baby"

A few comments made to the "related article", (Bogus Baby Boom) definitely made me wonder who is triggering what:

Walsh said her husband doesn’t think it strange that his wife plays with dolls. “He likes them too,” she said. “He says when he holds the baby it makes him feel good. It reminds him of the day his daughter was born. Everybody likes to hold a baby. It makes you feel at peace. It makes you feel calm.”

I dunno about the assumption that "everybody likes to hold a baby".  I personally can't remember a time when I felt at peace holding someone else's baby.  When I was much much younger, I enjoyed holding the infants I used to baby-sit, but only when they drank their bottles, and only when they were quiet and peaceful.  I liked the image it all represented ["I can pretend I am a mommy, and this is my house and this is how I'd like to live"].  Most of my fun-family-fantasy revolved around the fact that I could have a house of my own and a kitchen that had a fully-stocked refrigerator, too.  The baby was a bonus, provided the baby wasn't very demanding.  In fact, I remember I was 15 when I lost all interest in my "babysitting career".  It just so happened that's when the kids I used to watch became older, and as a result, their personalities became annoying and demanding. 

When I had my own babies, I felt very uncomfortable holding them at first, too.  I didn't like not knowing what to do to sooth a crying fussy person... a person 100% dependent upon me.  In fact, the photo of me holding my first-born shows a facial expression that says:  "Get this thing away from me!" 

15 years later I am glad to know I am indeed deeply bonded to my children, and I'm even more glad to know I don't need to hold them close and gush and goo in their faces to prove it.

When I see people attach themselves to inanimate objects, I think:  what's not to like when you have no other desire than to please yourself?