Tales of Amother Kind

Aargh

09 Aug 2009 6 Comments

by Mona S. in MomTalk Tags: Gender stuff, Peeves

If one more person comments on the fact that my family will now be complete / perfect because I’m having a boy come November, I’m going to scream. ‘One of each kind, you’re so lucky’ is a statement I’ve come to hate with a passion. It’s killed my joy that I’ve having a little boy – a boy I wanted only for variety’s sake – not because having a male child will ‘complete’ my family.

I’m not kidding when I say I’d have been just as happy with another daughter, or even another two daughters and I wouldn’t go on endlessly having children trying to produce a male heir. Our Grand Plan includes three kids and I KNOW I’d have been perfectly content if all of them turned out to be daughters. Of course, we’d miss having a son because we wouldn’t have known what bringing up a boy was like but not because of the other, horrible, illogical reasons.

What depresses me is that these comments aren’t coming only from the older generation, who prized their sons, their male heirs – I could ignore those - but even from people who belong to our more global, free-thinking and even feminist generation – the generation that should be working towards a gender-wise egalitarian society. Still such a long way to go. Funnily, these comments are from women more than men. Most men comment about how cool it would be to share the joys of PS II / other gadgets with the new addition but thank God, nothing about how I’ve done my duty by my husband, my family, as a woman and wife, by having a son because that would drive me to the point of actual homicide.

I want these comments to stop at ‘one of each kind! congratulations!’ – I don’t want to hear anymore. I have three months to go and I want to spend it thinking happy thoughts instead of murderous ones.