The New Year Baby

The New Year Baby
　
Father Time had a big job, and he wasn’t looking forward to it.. He had to choose the new year’s baby, and he really hated doing it. For over 6,000 years he had been interviewing, testing, and appraising candidates for the new year, and he was just plain tired of it. After all, if you’ve seen one new year baby, you’ve seen a hundred. And he’d seen thousands!
"Oh well," he thought to himself at 10:00 on the evening of December 31^{st, "I’d better just get to it and get it done."}
Just then Mother Nature walked by. She noticed the furrowed look on Father Time’s brow, so she stopped and put a hand on his shoulder. "Time to make the big decision?" she asked with compassion.

"Yes," Father Time said. "You wanna help?"

"I don’t think I’m supposed to," Mother Nature hedged, "but I suppose I could just sit with you while you interviewed the new babies and give you my suggestions."

"That would be great!" Father Time said. "I could use some new insight."

So it was that Father Time and Mother Nature were both sitting on the judgment seat when the candidates for the new year came to audition.

"Ooooooohhhh," impressive," Mother Nature said when the first baby approached. He was tall for his young age, with bleached blonde hair artfully spiked on top of his head, bright blue eyes twinkling gaily from under peaked eyebrows, a devilish grin that split his face and caused dimples to form under high cheekbones, and a brilliant blue sash hanging off one rounded shoulder and draping down to tie just above his diaper.

"This kid is cute!" Mother Nature told Father Time.

"Cute isn’t what I’m looking for," he sighed. He’d seen hundreds of cute babies in the past, but they hadn’t aged well.

"What would you do with this year if I chose you to be the New Years Baby?" he asked.

"Have fun!" the boy exclaimed. "I’ve been talking to the past years, you know, getting advice on how to do this job, and I can’t wait to try all the cool stuff they’ve told me about!"

Father Time rolled his eyes and quickly said, "Next."

Mother Nature turned to him as the boy was led away and asked, "What was wrong with his answer? I should think someone with his enthusiasm and excitement for the job would be a bonus. After all, he spent a lot of time doing his homework, and he certainly seemed prepared for the job."

"I don’t want someone who already knows what's coming," Father Time tried to explain. "We want a NEW year, not the same old stuff we had last year."

A cute little girl baby came in next. Her scarlet sash was draped provocatively from one shoulder, and tied loosely just above designer diapers that must have cost a fortune. She had big black eyes, framed with blacker lashes, and she looked from under them as she studied Father Time.

"Whoa!" Mother Nature exhaled when she saw the little thing. "That girl is going to be a looker when she grows up!"

"She already is," Father Time sighed. "What would you do with this year if you were chosen to be the New Year Baby?" he asked wearily.

"I’d take the world on to new heights," the girl answered. "I’ve read all the history books and interviewed the past years. They have done some amazing things, but not nearly enough. I would build on where they left off and go much farther!"

"Next," Father Time said, not even bothering to question what direction the girl thought the world should be heading.

"I don’t understand you," Mother Nature said. "What was wrong with her answer? Don’t you want the world to move on to new heights?"

"New heights of what?" Father time asked. "The world has been climbing for centuries, but being in the tops of the trees isn’t always the best place to sit, especially when the wind blows. I’m looking for a NEW year."

A tiny little fellow was brought in next. He had only a little baby fluff on top of his head, pink, chubby cheeks, and a sleepy smile. Mother Nature looked at him fondly and exclaimed, "Oh, how cute!"

Father Time asked, "So, What would you do with this year if you were chosen to be the New Year Baby?"

The little boy looked at him and answered, "I’d try to be the best I could be."

"Are you excited about enjoying all the enticing things in the world?" Father Time queried.

"I don’t know what’s there," said the little boy, "but I don’t think I’d want to take a chance wasting my year on entertainment."

"Would you take the world on to new heights?" Father Time quoted.

"I don’t know where it already is," answered the child. "I think I would like to start out from the ground and build a fresh, new world."

"Good enough for me," Father Time smiled. "You’re hired!" Then, turning to Mother Nature he asked, "Do you agree?"

She smiled. "Well, he may not be as exciting or driven as the other babies, but he will certainly give the world a chance to become whatever it is supposed to become. I’m glad you chose that baby."

Father Time nodded. "And just in time, too. It’s 11:59, time for the world to be Born Again."