As a group, we like poking and tickling his belly button while yelling "beep beep" and "hooooonk!" We find it hilarious. And he loves it. He'll expose his stomach for laughs and giggling.
Sadly, many children outgrow the notion that their bellies are endearing and charming. Our diet-obsessed, thin-obsessed, heavily-Photoshopped society sends detrimental signals to most children.
They start to feel bad about their bodies in general, but especially their bellies. As though they aren't deserving or entitled to take up the space that their body demands, they urgently endeavor to minimize their size.
We have serious problems with our bellies as a culture. I can't think of any other bodily area that elicits so strong negative feelings from so many individuals, particularly women.
Women are under intense pressure to return their pre-pregnancy bellies immediately. Please, no outward manifestations of the fact that your body developed, nourished, and nurtured another human being for almost a year.
In their quest for a flatter stomach, many women may resort to extreme, harmful, and even potentially fatal techniques. The 1990s brought us infomercials for electroshock belts that claimed to eliminate belly fat
But what if we could keep believing that bumps in the middle of people are cute and attractive? What if we didn't give in to the unattainable standards set before us?
In the event that "loving" your tummy is an impossibility right now, aim instead for a state of "neutrality." Disliking your stomach less. Not really into it. Certainly not a fan of it.