January 15, 2010

New Cousins for Everybody.

In one fell swoop yesterday on her Facebook wall, my sister announced her pregnancy and an intention to get a new puppy.  I am really excited about this new puppy because now Lucy will have another puppy with whom to play.  Quite simply, the cats are not appreciative of Lucy's futile attempts at friendship.  My brother has a dog,  but seriously, Shakey is such a molester I really would feel bad subjecting our little Queen Elizabeth I to Shakey's humping proclivities.  Wrong, it just feels wrong.

I am going to tell Arun today about his forthcoming new little cousin.  Of course, this is going to hop us right onto the subject train of Human Reproduction.  We have been at the depot for awhile, so I am a little prepared for this.  He knows the difference between mammals, reptiles, birds, dinosaurs, etc - we have been discussing this for a long time now.  He just has not actually asked how all these eggs, babies, etc "get in there" in the first place.

One of the more difficult things I have found in parenting is the "teacher part".  I am not, by nature, a teacher.  And I find myself having to be careful about how I explain things to a 4 year old - sure, I know the adult explanations for how things work, but I do struggle sometimes on how to simplify explanations so that Arun can understand.  Evolution, for example.  We have dipped our toe into that conversation, but I pulled back because I need to do more research to figure out the simplest way for him to understand.

Probably, my biggest worry with the sex talk is other parents.  I am not concerned with telling my son the truth.  However, I am very, very concerned with him getting the story wrong and attempting to tell a classmate.  Or worse, getting the story so very wrong that weird stuff happens and we get child services called on us (one of my greatest fears and paranoias is child services. *shudder*)

And I am very excited about this new niece or nephew.  I know it will be hard, a little, because I had always wanted 3 babies and I am feeling it deeply as Anjali marches on a sure path right past toddlerhood (and right into tweendom, it seem,s on some days.)  I would be lying if I said I am not feeling wistful - there will be no third baby for us. 

So, our crazy, chaotic family is about to ramp it up a notch.  I hope you are ready Rogers Baby #4, because we are not a people who holds back.  Also, I hope you like to be held because there will be no shortage of arms.


Nothing to Add, per se.

I have nothing to add with all of the dialogue going on about Haiti - I have no personal stories, nothing to say that would not come across as pithy.  I did want to include links to a variety of organizations.  If nothing else, it is simply amazing that in this day and age, it is easier than ever before to help folks in need.  Yesterday, at Costco, they told me they are taking donations there and I was able to simply add my donation to my purchase. I am also hoping to make a donation to Doctors without Borders.  I tend to lean towards them first  - my eye doctor is a member and his stories over the years have been very inspirational for me..
Doctors Without Borders,  
American Red Cross,  
Hope For Haiti,  
Compassion International

5 comments:

Dee said...

I'm waiting for the sex question to come up in our house too. We've been doing a lot of body part talks lately as Evie has started figuring out the differences in boys and girls. You're right, the hardest part if figuring out how to tell them in the right way - being honest, yet not giving away too many details.

Monkey McWearingChaps said...

Congratulations to your sister!

lorib said...

Been to busy to comment lately, but still here reading!

I too think Doctors without Borders is a great organization. Thanks for supporting them.

On the teaching kids note, I tend to go for broad concepts, rather than details, on the potentially sensitive subjects like where babies come from. You definitely never know how that conversation could be if passed on to a friend by the little ones. =)

Congrats on the new niece or nephew!

Jen said...

I wouldn't stress about it too much at his age -- simple, simple, simple and then go hunt through the books. The baby grows inside the mom is usually enough of an answer. He can ask more if he is desperate for information!

Honestly? Two of our three kids were told about the details several times before it really took -- there seems to be some developmental switch that prevents knowledge from sticking before a certain point! Sort of like the concept of Santa...said things like so he's not real...and then were right back on the bandwagon again in a few weeks!

Check out books -- we found a really good one with just basics in little kid friendly terms that we used in early school years -- you know so that they're equipped to discount anything really ridiculous they might hear on the bus!

Marathon Mom said...

Can't wait to get the puppies together! And as far as the birds and bees, surprisingly the third grader has not asked specifics. He just knows it takes a girl and a boy. I think I was like in second grade? Maybe boys aren't as interested? Which is ironic when you look at teenage boys.