We’re thrilled. Jay... not so much. All the time the tech was performing the ultrasound, Jay sat on the floor and colored in a coloring book the front desk gave him. He anxiously looked up from time to time and asked if we knew whether it was a girl or a boy yet. He knew it would be a girl, he was just waiting for the tech to tell us, so we could go home. He’s been hoping, expecting really, another little sister ever since we told him about the new baby.
“Well… it looks like you’re having a little boy”, the tech informed us, after a scan of the um, pertinent parts.
Jay was crestfallen. He burst into tears. He climbed onto Chris’ lap and sobbed into his shoulder.
“No! I wanted a sister!” He cried. “Why could it not be a sister? I don’t want a brother! I want two sisters!”
(Ella, for her part, could not give two hoots whether it’s a boy or a girl. As long as it’s out by her birthday and she can have cake, which has nothing to do with the baby, but this does not seem to affect her logic.)
Chris explained that it was in the genes, and we can’t control whether the baby is a boy or a girl. Jay thought about it for a moment and then asked if we could switch the genes before the baby is born. Chris and I tried hard to stifle our laughter, and it made the technician’s work of trying to measure the baby’s kidneys a little more difficult as my belly shook with laughter.
To try to cheer him up on the drive home, I told him that our tradition is to go out for ice cream after we find out that the third child in our family is going to be a boy.
Oh? Says Jay, brightening.
Yes, I say. I guess I forgot to tell you about that tradition, but EVERY TIME we have an ultrasound and find out that the third child of our family is going to be a boy, we go out for ice cream. It’s just what we do. It’s our tradition.
His tears dried as he pondered this.
But not if it’s a girl? He asked.
Oh, no. Not if it’s a girl, I say, definitely not. That is not the tradition.
I layed it on THICK.
It’ll be GREAT to have a brother! I don’t have any little brothers! You’re going to be so lucky! I made over the top praises of the merits of little brothers, which I completely made up. “Daddy,” I said, “YOU have a little brother. Tell us what’s so great about having a little brother.” We talked about how much fun it could be to wrestle and play Legos and catch. Here I found myself getting a little uncomfortable in the gender stereotyping, but decided to go with it for the sake of family cohesiveness. (But on the inside, I was all, Ella can wrestle and play Legos and catch, too, thank you VERY much.)
Later as we sat eating our ice cream, Jay turned to Chris. “Daddy, could we have ONE more kid in this family? And could you make sure to give it the BOY genes again?” Chris and I exchanged looks. He was finally coming around, warming up to the idea of having a little brother. Our talks about how cool little brothers are and playing Legos and peeing standing up had the desired effect. We felt warm and fuzzy inside. Chris said, “You like the idea of having a brother now, buddy? You actually want TWO brothers?”
“Yeah, so we can get ice cream again!”
