Father’s Body as Shield

Abstract

Imagine a toddler, just starting to get up and walk. He is unsteady. This world outside of the womb is interesting, but full of things to run into—gravity which works against him, angry dogs (his own size or even bigger), and stairs to fall down. Some of the time, he would just rather go back to “being a baby,” to being taken care of, held, and rocked. He would just as soon give up that sense of himself and be taken care of by mom.