Doll Factory

[DaraJaney]

One day when his mummy was collecting him from the creche, Marsie took her aside.  “You know, I wonder would he be better off with babies of the same ability – you know like one-year olds?  The toddlers tease him a lot.  I’m friends with Aly who runs a nursery.  She has a vacancy at the moment.”

So it was agreed to try him in the nursery.  He wore his apricot and lemon ensemble the first day.  Now there was a whole new set of people who were seeing him in his pretty baby dress and waddling in his thick nappies for the first time.

Even, the one-year-olds in their normal clothes laughed at his ultra-babyish outfit which didn’t make him feel any better.  “Now he can play with the others” his Mum observed as a baby offered Joe a rattle.  “Oh isn’t that nice.  He’ll fit right in.”

After a couple of days Aly agreed to take him on a long-term basis.  The following morning he arrived in his stroller.  Before letting him out, his Mum changed his booties.  “There’s just a little concern that you are so much bigger than the other babies you could injure them.”  Joe frowned. What did she mean?  She let him out of the stroller.  When he tried to walk he felt pins piercing his feet.  “Nnnggghhh!”  He had to go down on his hands and knees to relieve it.  “Ah you’ve got his crawling trainers, excellent!”  Aly noticed.

So Joe was banned from waddling around the nursery and had to crawl.  An added bonus to this was that everyone got plenty of views of his frilly bottom as he crawled around.  He was not happy about this.  Some of the babies could toddle around the place and lorded it over him now that he could only crawl.

The next day Mrs Lawson provided them with a large high-chair for Joe.  This was placed between two normal sized high-chairs so that Joe could be fed alongside the babies.

A few days later a mother who also had a child at the creche came to collect her little girl at lunchtime.  Joe was sharing some fluffy blocks with pictures of animals on them with one of the babies.  “Oh there’s Baby Joe!  Lovely to see he’s settled in well and is playing with the other babies.”  He hated people referring to the ‘other’ babies.  He wasn’t really a baby!  He suc-ked hard on his soother and shook his rattle trying to take his mind of it.  Then he realised that the lace frills on one of his booties were sticking up and he carefully smoothed them down again and checked his petticoats were nicely arranged around him.

Just then Aly came into the room.  “Dinner time!” she called out.  Joe turned over and crawled towards his high chair.  “Oh look at those pretty ruffles”, the mother commented as his dress rode up at the back.  “Yes, he can only crawl now”, Aly told her.  “Aw!  So cute!”

He was helped up into his high-chair and strapped in.  Babies were similarly placed in high chairs either side of him and Aly tied fleece bibs around their necks.  She then took his very large plastic bib and tied it around his neck.  He pushed it down with his mittens, making sure his pretty dress was well protected.

Ally disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a tray with three bowls of baby food – one several times larger than the others.  She placed the two small bowls in front of the babies and gave them a plastic spoon.  “I think you can just about manage yourselves now.”  The babies took their spoons and carefully dipped them into their bowls and managed to bring the spoons to their mouths and eat.

Joe couldn’t manage that with his hands strapped in the mittens.  Aly picked up his spoon and dipped it in his baby food.  “Open wide!”  Joe unhappily complied, glaring at the babies either side of him as Aly took his next spoonful.  Her phone rang.  “Oh excuse me a minute.”  She put the spoon down and went off to take her call.

Joe had to sit there patiently while the babies continued feeding themselves.  He tried to trap his spoon between his mittens.  He just about managed it and carefully dipped the spoon in his baby food.  He lifted it up but the angle was all wrong.  Still he tried but the baby food slid off the spoon and on to his bib.  Aly was returning.  “Oh now!  That’s why you have to wear such a big bib!”  She scooped the baby food off his bib, tutting.  The babies laughed at his helplessness.  He was just relieved that the bib saved his dress.  It would be embarrassing to have a baby food stain on his pretty dress for the rest of the day.

[antonia]

Loving this story. Thank you

[sweet baby katie]

i very much enjoy this story (and your other stories).  The slow acceptance of the soft comforts and pretty delights of being treated as a baby girl …. sigh!