Family Planning

I suppose it's a little early to start thinking about "the next one" since we don't even have "the first one" yet, but Andrew and I have been thinking a little about how far apart we would (ideally) like to space our children. It's a tough thing to try to figure out.

Plus, we're (probably) having a girl first, and girls are a little more picky than boys are when it comes to "the next one," especially the older they get. Trust me. I was three--almost four--when my little brother was born and I was not impressed. Not at all.

I had been praying for a little sister for some time so when my parents brought home a little brother from the hospital, I was quite appalled. Not only was the baby born 8 days before my birthday...the baby was a boy. Of all the nerve!

I'm quite sure that I wished horrible things upon him, and I probably asked if he could be exchanged for a better, more-girl baby...but I grew to like him. And I did enjoy playing with him. He really wasn't bad, as far as little brothers go.

Of course, I'm not entirely convinced that he was terribly fond of me when he was little. Like most children, it took Patrick a little while to figure out the whole gender thing.

One day he said to my mom, "Mom, I'm a boy."

And she said, "Yes, you are."

"And dad's a boy," he continued.

"That's right," said mom.

"And David's a boy...and you're a boy!" he finished triumphantly.

"No," my mom said, much to his dismay, "I'm a girl."

"No," he stated, matter-of-factly, "You're a boy."

"I'm a girl."

"You're a boy!"

"Patrick," said my mother, "I really am a girl."

"Fine!" Patrick fumed, "Be a girl!"

I'm not sure what kind of light that casts on my sisters and me. He didn't list us among the boys in the family and he sure did make being a girl seem somewhat insulting.

Be that as it may, when Josie was born he took to her like super glue. He carried her around with him everywhere; she was his regular little sidekick. He really didn't care that she was a girl since she was his little sister.

So basically, if the next baby is a boy, he had better be born before Rachel figures out gender...or we'll have a lot of coaxing to do in order to convince Rachel that a boy is an okay thing. Or, we could, in my four-year-old opinion, simplify things and just have another girl because girls are so much better than boys, anyway.

Of course, my opinion has changed a little bit since I was four and I now think that boys are pretty neat. I wouldn't mind having one of my own, perhaps more than one.

We'll see what happens, but until then we'll just enjoy this baby!