Thursday, November 6, 2008

only child


When I first moved in with my now husband, people started asking when are you going to get married. It took us 4 years but we finally pulled off a wedding, with catering and everything. But the masses were not satisfied, after about a month of wedded bliss they started asking “When are you going to have baby”. If we went to a party and I didn’t have a drink in my hand at all times, people would start asking “are you pregnant?” Once again it took us another four years to have a child, and once again they were not satisfied. I think they waited until our daughter was about a year before they started in. “When are you going to have another one”. Our traditional four years has come and gone, and we have not bowed to the pressure, which I might mention has been continuous.
I will say that laziness is at the core of our ambivalence. I could pretend that we’re worried about over population or our carbon baby foot print, but really I don’t want to get up every three hours again. I don’t want to have to take a uhaul every time I leave the house. So, yes it is laziness on my part.
When I look at multi-kid families I will admit it’s tempting. I myself have several sisters and a brother. I know how comforting siblings can be. That is, once you’re in your twenties. As a child I mostly remember fighting, or being ditched. I should mention depending how you count it, I’m the youngest. Blended families make it hard to figure out birth order.
Having one child has a lot of perks. For one thing she gets all of our attention, we can travel pretty easily these days, we don’t have to deal with fighting, and we have a small chance of being able to afford to send her to college. Of course there is a downside, she expects all of our attention. Also, who is she going to complain to about us.
I am currently in negotiations with my oldest friend to coop the baby I’m pressuring her to have after she marries this spring. I know, I’m the pot calling the kettle black. This poor girl isn’t even married yet and I’m harassing her already for the baby.
This could be the best of both worlds. I get to have an only child, and my child gets a sibling. They’ll be together all the time anyway. My child already call this women Mama (insert her first name).
It’s too bad both families already own houses we could of bought a duplex and lived next door to each other…yeah…that’s too far

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