Choices

I am an only child. And on top of that, I was the only grandchild on one side of my family until I was in HS. And....I had a pony. Not joking. But I wasn't really spoiled in the Veruca Salt sense., really. Although when people find out that I'm an only child I generally get "Oh, that explains a lot."

That background has an affect on how I parent. Specifically, Dear Wife and I have been throwing around the "Do we have another" question since we got the answer to "Are we going to have a second?" I don't want to stretch myself too thin between all the kids so that I'm not able to give them all enough attention. Well, that and my fear of having a girl, turning into the guy who polishes his gun when her boyfriend comes over.

And then I read this today. Made me realize just how much I'm really gonna miss this stage of being a parent, as will Dear Wife. Up until this point, I've tried to take the approach with DW (formerly referred to as A) that under no circumstances will I consider it. But I have a hard time keeping up that facade.

I spent (well, WE spent) 8 years or so waiting for kids, and now it's better than I could have imagined. C continues to amaze as does his little brother. The other day DW told him that his turn with the vacuum cleaner was over, and they had to put it away. While she chased W around, he opened the door to the office, opened the closet and put the vacuum away.

The kid is so freaking polite, I almost wonder where he gets it from. He's again asking permission for odd things. "May I please be mad all day?" "May I please cry all day?" The best part about the last week or so is that now C and W are playing together. W is mobile enough to chase C around, and C loves it. C also takes W into the "Dog House" which is under the pine desk in our front room.

Then again, I have at a minimum, 1.5 more years of diapers and household chaos before we need to make that decision.