Monday, August 04, 2008

On Biting The Hand... And Legs... And Face

It's perhaps our first violent instinct. Our first weapon. Our first acts of a malevolent nature: biting.

That Isaac has started biting has fueled my curiosity (Literally, at times, the hand that is feeding him). Why is this the case?

In thinking about it I have not come to take lightly now the Biblical story of Adam and Eve taking a bite of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. There is present the immediate act of disobedience. The Fall of Man most certainly occurred the moment the fruit was pierced. It was the first physical, violent act of the rebellion.

I find the association between Isaac's recent behavior and the most primal of stories our mankind's rebellion all curious and interesting.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

My Greek professor from college might suggest that you bite back - at least that's what he did when his dog would bite him. He said that by doing so he would show himself to be the "alpha dog". However, he was always a little crazy.

AaronG said...

We are doing that (as suggested by numerous parents before us -- especially as he was lashing out at the sitter's house with other kids).

Curiously, it's working. And I do feel crazy for doing it. More of the paradox of raising kids.

Anonymous said...

We use to do a slight slap of the mouth just after the act...

Anonymous said...

I had this problem as a young child as well. The solution was a rather draconian one. My teeth were all removed and I was left with only the ability to gum people.
As I look back on these many years since the painfull removal of all my teeth. I now harken back to those joyfull days from my death row cell and ponder, why, why were those teeth removed.

Anonymous said...

Please ignore the last entry. Without revealing who this person is, all I can say is that without his teetn, he looks like gum-by