I love Lauren’s openness with Dayoung and Leo in this 3rd episode. I actually think these moments are just as precious as when any of the appas bond with any of the kids.
I just really have to get this off my chest. There are friendly, cheerful babies and also shy, difficult babies. Lauren is easy-going and open, which makes MBLAQ approach her warmly the fastest. It’s important to understand that they don’t “favor” her because she’s prettier (the fck, BOTH girls are sooo cute). They don’t get to spend 24 hours a day, every day with the kids—not to mention all the footage that doesn’t make it into the cut that we see. What seems like “favoritism” may just as easily be the editor’s spin to make the show more interesting.
At the same time, it is just as hard to get a kid to open up as it is for the kid to open up to a stranger. I know this from first-hand experience dealing with babies as a photographer. It’s therefore easier for any of MBLAQ to bond with an open and cheerful kid; no one likes being rejected. As much as it is not Dayoung’s fault that she’s naturally introverted, it’s not MBLAQ’s fault if we see her sitting by herself on the couch or not sitting on the boys’ laps. Maybe she refused to sit on their laps. Forcing her to do something she is not yet comfortable of doing is sometimes even worse than nagging her with attention. (Also, I’m sure there’s a study somewhere that one of the fastest ways to get a kid to open up is to leave her alone until she is ready and willing. They are strangers after all, and not trusting easily is a sign that she’s very smart.)
When Mir pushed Dayoung from the table because she was being difficult—it’s not like HE’s a psychologist, so he just applied his own experience when he was kid. I understand this parenting process, so the child learns to appreciate the food on the table, etc. It was explained later that Dayoung had just woken from a nap before they ate, and kids are often cranky right after naps. Mir may or may not have known this, but it annoys me to no end when people assume right away that he either didn’t know it, or that he was being a douchebag baby-hater. If anything, Mir was probably hurt and pressured to do something because Dayoung wasn’t eating. I would have felt the same way.
I do feel, though, that when she cried, Mir should have explained his actions to her—like Joon did with Leo. But Mir is as much a maknae and must have been very scared and guilty that Dayoung cried. The youngest children in families often find it hard to relate as older, adult figures sometimes, and I can see it in Mir. Not only was he not able to be one of the 3 main appa’s, but he also failed in his first time to try and be a good parent, and being a good parent isn’t always about hugging and playing, there are lessons to be taught as well.
God, I can’t believe I wrote whole paragraphs about this. Also, people on Youtube going “ohhh Mir broke Dayoung’s heart! I hate him! I hope she doesn’t grow up being insecure with every stranger blah blah”— what the hell. She’s 3. I agree that she’s smart, and if she really is that smart, she will learn the lesson and the point of the story sooner or later. I bet she cried because the act was in itself alienating, not because her heart was broken. I also don’t believe she’s insecure. For all we know, she could be calculating every move she makes, judging every so often that it’s not worth the effort to appear as cheerful as Lauren, who, by the way, is a child model and accustomed to very social situations. That could be why Dayoung is so quiet all the time. We can only guess. The point is, there are people on set, and also MBLAQ themselves, who will try and resolve this issue the best way possible. I mean, jeez, Leo cried like 129237892 times already but no one’s saying Joon broke his heart. I am almost 100% sure that the situation was explained to Dayoung and that she will forget about it later on.
So fuck, I just wasted a whole lot of time.
(via wintersplash)
