Oh Baby

Every so often Ruth brings up the topic of babies--how they are made and how they are born--usually when she's hitting me up for a little sister. (This is how she usually brings up the conversation: Weston is a really nice little brother, but don't you think it would be fun if we had a little sister)?! She knows the basics (on a four-year-old level--"It just takes a little seed from the dad and a little seed from the mom, and {pause for effect} you get a baby." This said with spectacular hand motions and wonderful inflections.) and she always presents these facts to me in a way that says, "This isn't such a difficult thing. Why don't you get right on it?" I can't seem to get her to understand, that while I may be able to make the decision to have a baby, I don't have any control whatsoever over whether we get a boy or a girl. The funniest part of our conversation this morning was her question about how the baby gets out--"Mom, could you explain to me how the baby gets out. I don't think it would be strong enough to push out of the mom's belly, and anyway, that would just break the mom's belly and that wouldn't be good." I attempted to explain the birth canal and my mistake was comparing it to a tunnel. Her eyes lit up and she asked, "Is that a tunnel the baby can play in while it is in the mommy's tummy?" (I'm sure she was picturing some of our favorite playgrounds).

Anyway, we had this conversation during breakfast, and after we were done, she and Weston went off to play. In a few minutes Ruth came back into the kitchen, with Weston on her heels and her never-ending stream of make-believe dialog going on, and she announced to me that Weston was her baby. Then she just got completely cracked up, as she realized a discrepancy in her pretending, and said, "Well, he can't be my baby because I'm only 13...But someone gave him to me so I have to take care of him." At least I have her thinking that she shouldn't have a baby when she's 13!

I laughed myself to tears!