How 'bout if I punch YOU between the eyes?

Benjamin's birth mark has not concerned me thus far. The doctor said it will fade and I believe him. And even if it doesn't, he's a beautiful boy. I figure that if it doesn't fade, we can let our imaginations run wild and create an interesting story about it. After all, Harry Potter's mark made him special. And most superheroes have a mark that makes them different or gives them special powers. We can be as imaginative as we want to be.

Now this mark really changes shades. In the obvious way, it gets darker when he's upset and lighter when he's calm. But there are also days when, for no explicable reason, it's very dark...or barely visible. So often, people don't notice it much, and occasionally people are surprised by it because they never noticed it before.

There is this one guy in the neighborhood, though, who always comments on it. This guy is a college professor, and someone I used to respect. (I have other reasons, besides the story I have yet to present, for my waning interest in this fellow.) The first time this guy (let's call him Henry) saw Benjamin, he asked VERY LOUDLY in a room full of people, "Wow - have you been punching him in the forehead?!" Er, no. I explained. That's just a birthmark and will fade with time. Let's chalk that one up to the wine he was drinking, or to roughly expressed curiosity, or to his not being a parent himself.

The next time Henry saw Benjamin, he leaned in close to look at Benjamin's forehead and asked: "What's wrong with his face?" Well, I explained, that's a birthmark that will probably go away as he gets older. He had no comment, but he kept staring at him until I passed Benjamin off to some adoring grandma-types.

The last time we saw Henry, he leaned down so that his face was right in front of Benjamin's and said: "You look like you got punched between the eyes." He appeared to be trying to make Benjamin feel bad - as if he could understand and needed to be told that something was wrong with him. I asked him why he would say something like that, but he didn't hear me, I guess. We were in a room full of people and Brent was holding Benjamin, so I decided not to make a big deal about it.

I think the next time he says something like that, I'm going to punch HIM between the eyes!