I now lie to strangers when they ask me (and my alarmingly enormous midsection): “Do you know what you’re having?” I say: “Nope.”
(I do know, though. It’s boy #3.)
The top five reasons to lie–especially when Boy #1 and Boy #2 are with me…and listening:
5. “Another boy? Well, you can just keep trying!”
4. “Oh, no–you are going to need plenty of patience!”
3. “I hope it’s a little girl in there!”
2. “Don’t lose hope! My [insert family member or friend] had 3 boys before finally getting a girl!”
1. (And my favorite–from just last week…) “Oh, God is playing an evil little trick on you!”
But to the lady at the plant store yesterday: I forgot to lie to you when you asked, but you said: “Oh, that’s wonderful, because you make such adorable boys.” Thanks.
***
I hope that Kris will not mind if I add these excerpts from Garden Varieties. Often, when I get frustrated with all the boy/girl/expectations stuff–especially when a poor baby hasn’t even been born yet, I think of these two so perfectly-put ideas from her blog:
From her post called Three:
[I could substitute "boy" for "girl" in the following...or keep "girl"...either way...it's just so right on.]
I’ve never understood why people want a girl. You don’t get a girl, you get someone so unique, so unexpected, so utterly and completely themselves, there’s not much connection to whatever it is we think a girl will be.
I wanted a child and I got a Lu, and she is exactly the right Lu for me.
And, also, from her post called “Forces of Nature,” which I love:
As Lu and Nell grow older cultural expectations will become more pressing, throwing acceptable differences between boys and girls into sharp and disappointing relief, but I love that at the moment they are simply themselves with no thought of what they ‘should’ be.
Thank you, Kris. These posts have always stuck in my mind…
