Times two
Since March 9th 2021, I have a child. Since last Sunday, I have children. And by that I mean I now have two children: let’s not get carried away, no twin situation over here — or worse. I would have put one up for adoption anyway. Also, that’s it: two children is a lot. My philosophy: no more children than parents. Otherwise you’re just outnumbered. And the ones we got are plenty: the big sister alone would give most couples enough work for a lifetime.
In other words, I’m thrilled. All joking aside, it does feel weird having two little monsters at home. Not as surreal as going from zero kids to one: that one still feels weird to me, and I suspect it will never quite disappear. But the idea that you now have several creatures that you are responsible for at all times and therefore mathematically can’t… One could always posit that you also can’t always be responsible for one child, it’s just so much more obvious when there’s more than one: only yesterday, as the baby was crying for more milk (her favorite — and only — food), her big sister was jumping around messing up the living room with sparkly things she’d brought from school that we specifically told her not to take out. So the floor got sparkled.
This is just the very beginning: Sophia only met her baby sister two days ago. And she was excited by that prospect to no end: she hadn’t seen her mom in three days, yet barely acknowledged her once we got to the maternity. What she wanted to see was who would replace her in the stroller as she got a standing board attached to it. I assumed the encounter would go well, although I suspected it wouldn’t be easy for the big sister, who’d spent 3 years and 9 months being the only child in the immediate family. The way it unfolded may be the perfect encapsulation of what’s to come: incredibly caring at times and quite dismissive at others. Sophia caressed Nora’s hand with extreme caution, only to jump around the room minutes later to the point of startling her in her cot. Noted: the way babies get startled, suddenly extending their arms in the air, is incredibly cute. Although you’re not supposed to cause it to happen. I was told.
There you have it. A new dawn is upon us. And that’s not only because idiots are about to get access to the most advanced nuclear arsenal in the world. Yeah: I started checking the news again…