Ramblings

Last night, I asked Finn whether he thought the baby was a boy or a girl. Usually when I ask him this, he answers "Boy and girl," despite all my assurances that no, really, there is just one baby inside Mommy's belly. But last night he definitively said girl. I'm sure I'll ask him again later and get a different answer, but I'm just glad he's no longer predicting twins for us :-).

Another quick work story from me, one that ties in to the whole "Is it a boy or a girl?" question: As I prepped my lunch one day a week or two ago, one of the elderly ladies that does some part time work for us asked me whether I was having a boy or a girl. Upon hearing that the gender is a surprise, she exclaimed, "Oh, how awful!" Now I know, when I was pregnant with Finn, that I was slightly judge-y about those pregnant women that chose not to find out the sex of their babies (sorry!). My thinking was that there were going to be PLENTY of surprises in the delivery room as a first time mom, and besides, don't you want to bond with your baby while it's in utero??? But I certainly never tried to make anyone feel badly about the decision to have a delivery room surprise (I hope!). Maybe this woman was just assuming that I would want to take advantage of a technology that was not around when she was giving birth?

Regardless, I don't think it's "awful" that I don't know my baby's sex. We really have just about everything we need to welcome a baby into the world, boy or girl. Yes, if it's a girl, I'm short on pink onesies. The horror! But I do happen to have about 1,674 white, green and yellow onesies. The child will be adequately dressed, that is certain. And more importantly, knowing the gender of your child before it's born doesn't guarantee better/more instantaneous bonding, as I found out with Finn. Yes, I loved him intellectually as soon as (before) he was born, but would I say I was "bonded?" I don't think so. I was way too shell shocked by the upheaval, and in too much pain, to really "bond" with my cute, tiny, hairy, constantly hungry baby instantly. It took time. I expect it to take some time this time around, and I'm not worried about it.

On a final note, M. and I are hoping to find a gift of some sort to bring to Finn's soon-to-be-old daycare on his last day next week. Since he has been there from 8 weeks old and migrated through 4 rooms/8 head teachers, we want to get something that will show appreciation for ALL the support he has gotten, not just from his current teachers. For lack of better ideas, we've been defaulting to the concept of a large gift basket, genre unknown. I thought I'd put it to you, though, to see if anyone had any ideas of brilliance. Any thoughts on an appropriate gift for Finn's daycare?