Re: A RL Similar Situation oneandthetruthNovember 19 2011, 23:16:21 UTC
Don't you think it's possible that by 2 1/2 you had learned that when mommy starts yelling it's usually not something the baby has to worry about, since you *did* start screaming when you realized there was a serious problem?
Yeah, that occurred to me after I'd posted that. I'm the youngest child in my family, and my parents' marriage was in the toilet several years before I was born. Although I don't remember it that way, things must have been pretty tense in our house, particularly since that house wasn't big enough for a family of six.
So here's my New, Unified Theory of Harry's Infantile Emotions, incorporating your observations, Mary's story about the Palestinian baby, my story, and a modified version of Terri's story.
I came from a rather tense family, and that Palestinian baby was probably used to a high level of tension, also. So when we were confronted with stressful situations, instead of getting upset, we just dismissed them as "more of the same," until they were proven to be worse than usual.
In the same way, things were probably pretty unpleasant in the GH cottage. Anyone would get tense being cooped up in a small house for months on end, especially if they were young, lively, extroverts like Lily and James. We know James was getting antsy about not being able to go out and have fun. Having a baby around just made things worse. Even if their marriage had not become physically abusive--and I don't think there's enough evidence to prove that--there were probably arguments that got increasingly nasty as time wore on and tensions rose. So Harry was probably used to hearing his parents yelling and slamming doors. He also would have been used to hearing occasional visitors, so he would not have associated a strange voice, yelling, and slamming doors with anything out of the ordinary. As I said above, even if he saw Mummy fall, he wouldn't necessarily have considered that a problem until she didn't get up or respond to his cries. People do fall down sometimes for perfectly ordinary, nonviolent reasons. This explains why Harry wasn't upset until he saw the weird-looking stranger looming over his crib. It's also possible, as Danny suggests below, that Harry was in shock.
While contemplating this, I couldn't help thinking how Severus would have responded if he'd been the one to marry Lily and go into seclusion. He'd probably have been delighted to have his wife and child all to himself. I can just imagine him saying to Lily, "But darling, why do you want to go out and see other people? I'm happy just being here alone with you and our adorable baby." (Accompanied by a sappy, puppy-dog look.)
Yeah, that occurred to me after I'd posted that. I'm the youngest child in my family, and my parents' marriage was in the toilet several years before I was born. Although I don't remember it that way, things must have been pretty tense in our house, particularly since that house wasn't big enough for a family of six.
So here's my New, Unified Theory of Harry's Infantile Emotions, incorporating your observations, Mary's story about the Palestinian baby, my story, and a modified version of Terri's story.
I came from a rather tense family, and that Palestinian baby was probably used to a high level of tension, also. So when we were confronted with stressful situations, instead of getting upset, we just dismissed them as "more of the same," until they were proven to be worse than usual.
In the same way, things were probably pretty unpleasant in the GH cottage. Anyone would get tense being cooped up in a small house for months on end, especially if they were young, lively, extroverts like Lily and James. We know James was getting antsy about not being able to go out and have fun. Having a baby around just made things worse. Even if their marriage had not become physically abusive--and I don't think there's enough evidence to prove that--there were probably arguments that got increasingly nasty as time wore on and tensions rose. So Harry was probably used to hearing his parents yelling and slamming doors. He also would have been used to hearing occasional visitors, so he would not have associated a strange voice, yelling, and slamming doors with anything out of the ordinary. As I said above, even if he saw Mummy fall, he wouldn't necessarily have considered that a problem until she didn't get up or respond to his cries. People do fall down sometimes for perfectly ordinary, nonviolent reasons. This explains why Harry wasn't upset until he saw the weird-looking stranger looming over his crib. It's also possible, as Danny suggests below, that Harry was in shock.
While contemplating this, I couldn't help thinking how Severus would have responded if he'd been the one to marry Lily and go into seclusion. He'd probably have been delighted to have his wife and child all to himself. I can just imagine him saying to Lily, "But darling, why do you want to go out and see other people? I'm happy just being here alone with you and our adorable baby." (Accompanied by a sappy, puppy-dog look.)
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