Family Life

A few weeks back Lil came home from school with an outline of what the grade 1 students were reviewing about "family life". Lil summarized the teachings with a story of how boy and girl meet at dog park, boy takes girl out to dinner (ok so far), couple finds priest to get permission to marry, couple has babies and all the outlaws visit for Sunday dinner every week. Alternatively, if baby doesn't come along, couple adopts a baby. And so this is how families are made. Easy Peasy. No mention of reproductive endocrinologists, step families, gamete donors.

"Hmmm, its a bit of a narrow view muses my dear husband."

"It's going to get pretty confusing for her says I. She's going to encounter kids with 2 Moms, kids with 2 Pops, kids with 2 Moms and 2 Pops. Hey Dr. Seuss and I should get together and write a book about third party reproduction."

I get the single raised eyebrow roughly interpretted as "not in front of the children". "She's got time to figure it out" says he.

And so life goes on. Grace begins talking mostly about buses. She loves a good bus, city bus, school bus, anything that approximates a bus. Its the one word other than shoe that she says that everyone understands. She sings the wheels on the bus constantly. She jumps for joy when the school bus picks Lil up for school.

Lil decides that she likes my cooking. Every meal she asks how I made dinner.
"Well I took it out of the wrapping, put it in the microwave for 5 minutes and put it on your plate"
"I'll have to remember that for when I have children" she says. "Daddy, do you know why I am going to have two children?"
"So they won't be lonely?" asks he
"No Daddy, so Mommy can take care of one and you can take care of the other one."
As he gags on his frozen entree, I attempt to refer back to her school teachings on family life: "No Lil, when you find a partner and have babies, then you have to take care of them at your house"
"I have to move out?"
"Absolutely"
"I have to find a husband?"
"Something like that" I say
"But how do I decide Mom, every boy in my class wants to be my husband" says the princess.
"Give it a little time Lil, wait to see if they can graduate to grade 2"

"The babies on the bus go wah, wah, wah" offers Grace