Skip to main content

On Being Pregnant

 All eyes are on the inauguration today, but a part of me is also contending with the fact that Josh will have a little sister in six months (knock on wood).

I realized something yesterday--in reference to some couples: Things are strange if your kid can't see the evidence of a developing little sibling for the nine months of gestation. If you're having a baby through surrogacy, then the arrival of the second child can be a real shock for the first child. "Wait a minute, shouldn't I have been prepared for this?"

So I'm starting to compile a list of good books about siblings--for Josh. The gold standard is "Beezus and Ramona," in my view, but this is a bit advanced. I'm thinking about:

*"Arthur and the Big Snow"
*"Julius, the Baby of the World"
*"Noisy Nora"

.....Other suggestions are welcome!
Labels:

Comments

  1. rebeccaJanuary 20, 2021 at 6:22 AM

    !!! That New Animal / Jenkins — Mail Harry to the Moon / Harris

    (and yes - Julius - always Julius.)

    <3 !!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. ReaderJanuary 20, 2021 at 7:12 AM

    Thank you! I will check out these titles. And yes-- happy that Josh will have more of a social life in six months! (And excited to meet the little human....)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Host a Baby

-You have assumed responsibility for a mewling, puking ball of life, a yellow-lab pup. He will spit his half-digested kibble all over your shoes, all over your hard-cover edition of Jennifer Haigh's novel  Faith . He will eat your tables, your chairs, your "I {Heart] Montessori" magnet, placed too low on the fridge. When you try to watch Bette Davis in  Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte , on your TV, your dog will bark through the murder-prologue, for no apparent reason. He will whimper through Lena Dunham's  Girls , such that you have to rewind several times to catch every nuance of Andrew Rannells's ad-libbing--and, still, you'll have a nagging suspicion you've missed something. Your dog will poop on the kitchen floor, in the hallway, between the tiny bars of his crate. He'll announce his wakefulness at 5 AM, 2 AM, or while you and another human are mid-coitus. All this, and you get outside, and it's: "Don't let him pee on my tulips!" When...
3 comments
Read more

Joshie

  When I was growing up, a class birthday involved Hostess cupcakes. Often, the cupcakes would come in a shoebox, so you could taste a leathery residue (during the party). Times change. You can't bring a treat into a public school, in 2024, because heaven knows what kind of allergies might lurk, in unseen corners, in the classroom. But Joshua's teacher will allow: a dance party, a pajama day, or a guest reader. I chose to bring a story for Joshua's birthday (observed), but I didn't think through the role that anxiety might play in this interaction. We talk, in this house, quite a bit about anxiety; one game-changer, for J, has been a daily list of activities, so that he knows exactly what to expect. He gets a look of profound satisfaction when he sees the agenda; it doesn't really matter what the specific events happen to be. It's just about knowing, "I can anticipate X, Y, and Z." Joshua struggled with his celebration. He wore his nervousness on his f...
2 comments
Read more

Josh at Five

 Joshie's project is "flexibility"; the goal is to see that a plan is just an idea, not a gospel, not a guarantee. This is difficult. Yesterday, we went to a restaurant--billed as "open," with unlocked doors--and the owner informed us of an "error in advertising." But Joshie couldn't accept the word "closed." He threw himself on the floor, then climbed on the furniture. I felt for the owner, until he nervously made a reference to "the glass windows." He imagined that my child might toss himself through a sealed window, like Mary Katherine Gallagher, or like Bruce Willis, in "Die Hard." Then--thank the Lord!--I was able to laugh. The thing that really has therapeutic value for Joshie is: a firetruck. If we are out in public, and he spots a parked truck, he wants to climb on each surface. He breathlessly alludes to the wheels, the door, the windows. If an actual fire station ("fire ocean," in Joshie's parla...
Post a Comment
Read more