Be a girl...be a girl...

Just another quick thought/story from the last week.

For most of this pregnancy, I have wanted this baby to be a boy. Mostly so Lily will never be just the middle child...she'll always stay special because she's the only girl. Perhaps I am sensitive to this having been the middle of 3 girls, I don't know. I even posted why I wanted a boy early on...but the feedback was quite negative, and I realized that I sounded more pessimistic than even I was willing to.

So, boy thoughts. That's what I've thought. Lily would be close in age to #3, so gender would not matter...she will feel close to this sibling. But if it is a boy, Andrew too will have a special bond with #3.

But last week, something came to my attention that has made me change my mind. Drastically. 180 degrees. See, I didn't grow up with boys. So my only experience living with boys has been with a) my father...a grown man beaten down by living with 4 women for decades b) Jeff...a grown man with surprisingly considerate bathroom etiquette, and c) Andrew...a cute little boy who until recently depended on me to take care of his waste.

But Andrew is changing. It all started with potty training. And now...peeing standing up. Ugh. There are some disgusting side effects to this whole standing up thing. Who thought of this? Oh, probably a man. Last week he called one of us for "help" in the bathroom. I assumed he needed a wipe check (another of the more glamerous parental jobs noone thinks of when they dream of having children). So I hand the baby to Jeff and go to help. Andrew is standing in front of the toilet with pee....EVERYWHERE. Oh, sorry. Not everywhere. There was ZERO pee in the toilet. It had riccoched off the stool, pooled onto the floor, soaked into the rug...eww, eww, eww. I took one look and exclaimed, "Oh, this is a guy clean-up. I think you should just sit down and pee!" Jeff was called to take over. As Jeff cleaned up the clossal mess, I got to listen to Jeff school Andrew on aiming, wiping the seat for the girls, and other things that kind of melted my heart in a strange, gross way. A father passing on info to his son.

But then...I thought...this isn't going to be fixed with one heart to heart from father to son. There will be more pee on the seat and the floor. There will be B.O. galore when the boy refuses to bathe and/or wear deoderant. There will be globs of toothpaste yuckies and dirty underwear in the corner. I had sudden flashbacks to the stench of Jeff's freshman year dorm floor. Always smelled like urine and wet socks. More flashbacks to Jeff's bathroom through the years that he shared with many other dirty boys...oh...gross. I wouldn't even USE their bathroom.

I can't do this to Lily. She should not have to share a bathroom with TWO boys. Poor thing. TWO gross boys? I had not considered this.

So my mantra has changed to "be a girl...be a girl..."


***Disclaimers
---Giselle does not mean to offend any boys reading this post. I realize not ALL boys are smelly and disgusting and leave pee all over the bathroom. But some do. I know. I've just witnessed it. And I do remember some nasty odors.
---Giselle does not mean to imply that she does not want a boy. I want a healthy child. I have a boy...and adore him. I have a girl...and adore her. I really don't care what I have. Especially now that I've considered how gross it would be for Lily to have 2 brothers. Imagine the amount of farting? belching? When all their friends come over in high school...oh the horror!
---Giselle does not mean to offend any of you out there with brothers that you love. I know Lily will love having two brothers if that's what is meant to be.

Have I forgotten anyone? If you are offended...please don't be. And don't leave a comment ;)