Sunday, October 20, 2002
Heather:
Yes, it's a boy. I can believe it as I was part of the (incorrect) majority last time. It was that dream about caring for a circumcision that pushed me over the edge. Now I'm just willing to believe the technician.
I had a point to this. We'll have a girl and a boy; there are those that would say, "Why have any more? One of each is enough." One of my students expressed this when I announced the upcoming arrival's gender. The subtext is, "Any more would be redundant." Like a second son or daughter would be just like the first, so why would one bother? Apparently cloning is already a reality for them. Should those expecting a second son or daughter trade with another couple to have "family balance?" After all, the younger one wouldn't provide a different parenting experience so it wouldn't matter.
I'm a second daughter. Since my folks already had a daughter, I guess to those "family balance" proponents would have skipped me to go right ahead to my younger brother. We're 10 1/2 months and 15 months apart, respectively, which I suppose would had fuel to the argument.
My older sister and I are as different as chalk and cheese. Part of it I know is conscious and intentional, one goes left and the other right. But a larger part of it, I'm sure, is just that we are two different people with different things to offer the world. The idea of having only two and being done because "more would be redundant" is one of the more depressing beliefs I've happened to encounter.
Yes, it's a boy. I can believe it as I was part of the (incorrect) majority last time. It was that dream about caring for a circumcision that pushed me over the edge. Now I'm just willing to believe the technician.
I had a point to this. We'll have a girl and a boy; there are those that would say, "Why have any more? One of each is enough." One of my students expressed this when I announced the upcoming arrival's gender. The subtext is, "Any more would be redundant." Like a second son or daughter would be just like the first, so why would one bother? Apparently cloning is already a reality for them. Should those expecting a second son or daughter trade with another couple to have "family balance?" After all, the younger one wouldn't provide a different parenting experience so it wouldn't matter.
I'm a second daughter. Since my folks already had a daughter, I guess to those "family balance" proponents would have skipped me to go right ahead to my younger brother. We're 10 1/2 months and 15 months apart, respectively, which I suppose would had fuel to the argument.
My older sister and I are as different as chalk and cheese. Part of it I know is conscious and intentional, one goes left and the other right. But a larger part of it, I'm sure, is just that we are two different people with different things to offer the world. The idea of having only two and being done because "more would be redundant" is one of the more depressing beliefs I've happened to encounter.
