Raising a Boy - my husband's opinions

It's already started with my husband: The fear that being the youngest son, coming after two older sisters will wussify his only male offspring beyond belief.

You can hardly blame him - living in this house full of estrogen.  Butch has been his only male counter-part for so long, and he's hardly what you would call a masculine beast.  In fact, it's Elizabeth who takes great joy in "helping Daddy shave," standing on the toilet and rummaging through his toiletry bag, which she refers to as his purse.  

Of course, he loves the time with her, even though it's not without it's moments - one of my favorite being when she said, "Oh sorry, Daddy...I dropped your toofbrush in the potty." 

So yeah...he's a little excited.  And the excitement has brought out all of his opinions about raising a man.  Those of you who know my husband or have spend any time in the Man Cave will appreciate his sentiments.  

But anyone who has witnessed him with his daughters will know that, at the sight of this little guy, he will turn directly to mush.  However, the next 19 weeks or so should prove interesting in our preparation. 

For example...

Yesterday, we inherited a cribbing set from a friend and it is adorable.  So I was telling Scott about my excitement over this cute bedding and he just blankly stared at me.

"Are we really going for cute here?  I mean, does he even need a cribbing set?"

Then it was my turn to stare.

*****

I was also making a list of things to look for at consignment sales and, knowing he is going to be a March baby, I was going to add a couple of the zip up blanket sleepers to the list.  All of my Sleep Sacks are pink and I think they are a must-haves.

"Oh, he won't need those," Scott said.  "He's a boy."

"He is going to need a blanket," I retorted.  "Just because he's a boy doesn't mean he won't get cold."

"Really?  Are we just looking to wuss him out right off the bat??"

*****

Last night, while watching the CMA's, Scott informed me that his son didn't need to listen to the little kid CD's that I play in the car for the girls.  A woman I worked with before Elizabeth was born told me to play CD's of the shows or movies they watch in the car - something about making them cue a visual image to what they were hearing was good for their brains.  Her son had offers at Ivy League schools, so I took her advice to heart and never complained about listening to little kids songs.

But apparently, my son won't need those.

I said, "Do you have a complaint about the girls' cognitive progression?" 

He said, "No...I just think a boy can listen to the radio.  We don't need a whole lot of singing and dancing."

*****

While we were at a consignment sale last weekend, he caught me looking at a bassinet.  We sold our pack and play in a yard sale before we moved and I wasn't in love with it anyway and just figured if we got pregnant again, we'd just get a new one.  I had never considered a bassinet, but it was nice and I was thinking maybe it would serve the same purpose as the topper you get on a pack and play.

"What are you looking at that for?"  he asked.  "We don't need that."

"Well, we are going to need a place for him to sleep," I answered.

"We have the basket."

We have a Moses basket that we put both girls in because the bassinet feature was flimsy on the pack and play and didn't have a solid surface on the bottom.  I was honestly hoping to avoid it again.

"Well, where are we going to put the basket?"

"What's wrong with the floor?"

"Scott, we are not putting our newborn baby in a basket on the floor.  No."

"Oh, he'll be fine."

A woman overhearing us chuckled out loud and I felt obligated to inform her that this was his first son...after two girls. She nodded, understanding entirely.

*****

My friends, the list goes on.

"You need to look for a new diaper bag because you don't need to carry our son's stuff in that one."  My current diaper bag has blue, green, gray and yellow hearts on it.  Luckily, I found a camo one that also has a place to hold sippies on the side - which was on my wish list anyway.  Situation = resolved.

"He won't need that many toys or clothes...you can just leave him in his diaper.  The toughness training needs to start early."

"I'm going to need to cut down that tree in the backyard and pull out the lilac bush and those two shrubs.  A boy is going to need more room out there." 

And my absolute favorite:  "Do you think they make little baby Kettle Bells?"

Oy vay.

Did I mention that my husband is excited to have a son??

We went through a similar process before Elizabeth was born - laying out what we thought and what we'd do and (even funnier now) what we'd NEVER do.  My mom loves to remind me that I said that I would never put a DVD player in the car for our kids.  Yeah, I know...open mouth, insert foot.  And adding a boy to our brood is a little like starting over, but in an exciting way.  I think he'll round us out and complete our family in a way that only God has planned...no matter if we mess up raising him.

Here's to the adventure!