Commentary By Melanie Patterson

The North Jefferson News



Nothing is funnier than watching a baby learn to eat with her hands.

Friday afternoon, I was holding Raygan, our office manager Danielle Pelkey’s famous 10-month-old that she’s always writing about in her column.

Raygan was sitting in my lap at my desk, and I was eating a Krystal hamburger that Danielle’s brother had given me.

Of course, the baby was reaching for bites, so I obliged. I pinched off small pieces for her, and she picked them up daintily with her tiny index finger and thumb as if she were picking up the most fragile gem.

And then she shoved the food into her mouth like there was no tomorrow.

She noticed the empty Krystal box on my desk, so I gave it to her to play with. I dropped a small piece of burger into it to see what she would do.

Raygan held the box with both hands and put her face to it like there was the most amazing surprise inside. She dug her little fist into it and triumphantly fished out the bite of burger.

And again, she shoved it into her mouth with a vengeance. I was surprised she didn’t bite her own fingers.

Then she turned the empty box upside down and tried to shake more food out of it.

When that didn’t work, she looked at me for answers because she knew I was the source of the food anyway. At least as far as she was concerned.

But there was no more burger to be had, as I had already polished off the vast majority of it.

It was fascinating to see the intensity with which Raygan zeroed in on that food. I wonder how often I give anything that much of my attention.

It seems that as we get older, there are more and more things competing for our attention, our loyalty, our money and our time.

I often feel that I’m spread too thin between the things I need to do, the things I have to do and the things I want to do.

But not in Raygan’s life. For her, whatever she wants or needs at the moment is the only thing on her 10-month-old mind.

Maybe I can take a cue from Raygan. Sure, when you’re an adult you can’t focus on just one thing at a time. But I think I’ll try focusing more intently on things that really matter. Like hamburgers.