It's a Girl!

It's a girl! I am very pleased to announce that our baby has arrived and it is a girl!




Born Friday, May 27th at our home. Her daddy delivered her and we are both recovering well and the whole family is taking some time to rest and bond.

We feel blessed to have another child and so very glad that she is healthy.

Even though she is just days old, already I get little flashes of overwhelming job I have in front of me - raising a girl! Sure, some of my worries are the same for all my children, but I never realized that there would be a different set of worries that come with having girls rather than boys. Should they be different? I have cared for my boys with one frame of mind and never considered what those same things would mean if I were caring for girls and some of the things we will face in the future, as parents of a girl, are scary!

I realize some of this is just part of the anxiety of having a newborn child. I'll stop there and not get into what could be a rabbit hole! :)

Locker room humor

Our homeschooled children have finally been introduced to some of the euphemisms for male genitalia, specifically "wiener" and the name "Dick". Try explaining those to a 9, 7 and 5 year old and not laughing. As the mother of 4 boys, I'm surprised we were able to put it off so long! Oh joy.

One of the interesting things I have learned, during my few years as a mother and homeschooler, is that playground/locker room humor is not just a "learned" thing. Sure, a lot of it can be avoided by eliminating videos and social interaction that contain inappropriate things, but for the most part, boys will find something to turn into a joke. Body functions, be they loud or smelly, or silly sounding body parts, are just funny to boys! Some girls laugh at things like that, but it really seems to be part of the male sense of humor. They can laugh at the disgusting parts of being a walking, talking, digesting, excreting, fallible human. It bothers me, but mostly, I just try to keep it reigned in and let them find things funny.

Something about being able to laugh at the silly thing must be a coping/bonding method for them as they grow up and face their destiny as men. Men bond over armpit orchestras and instant replays of groin injuries, whether it is in a locker room or battle field. It must be part of their nature for a very good reason. Crude, yes, but does it possibly help them to deal with the grim reality of war and the heavy responsibilities of being men? It could. I'll just have to keep it tempered with my motherly remarks and trust that God made them the way they are supposed to be. Anyone else have some insight into this? I'd love to hear from some dad's....!