Saturday, February 28, 2009

I think the baby cat is out of the bag

We have learned an interesting fact the last few weeks. People (including nurses and doctors) don't ask you if you have told your older child what is going on with mommy. This strikes me as strange, since especially this early, bad things can happen and if they do, maybe a three year old would be better off being totally in the dark about the whole thing. I'm really not uptight about it (given my nature), it just strikes me odd that even when I was like 5 weeks along a nurse would say to Scout, "So, do you want a little brother or a little sister?" Scout answered -for the record she said sister- but she kind of shrugged off the question like, "why did this lady ask me that?" Rob and I don't talk about it in front of her at home, but she is certainly picking up a lot of this talk on the street!
On our appointment on Thurs. when the doctor was looking for the heart beat, he asked Scout about the baby in mommy's tummy. He asked her if she knew there was one, she played it cool and said yes (by now, she has probably picked up enough to have it figured out). -Well, as well as a 3 year old can work things out in her head. Here is a conversation we had yesterday:

I was on the computer in the office and Scout walks in:
Scout: Mom? Is there a baby in your tummy?
Me: (a little cagey) Maybe
Scout: (with a look of concern mingled with a hint of disgust) I think you'd better spit it out.

This morning's conversation:
She comes in and crawls into bed with me with a little bear beanie baby wrapped up in kiki
Scout: (looking at the bottle of prenatal vitamins on my nightstand) You better take your medicine.
Me: I took it last night, I don't need anymore right now.
Scout: But you need to take it so the baby goes away
Me: I don't want the baby to go away
Scout: Why?
Me: Because the baby is going to grow for a while and then it's going to be your little brother or sister
Scout: Oh. (then lost interest and went back to caring for her baby bear)

I am just going to let her ask questions at her leisure and see what happens. I know she is dying for a brother or a sister. She just obviously doesn't quite get it, but is on her way. For now, I am enjoying her questions and can't wait for the next one. I'm surprised she linked the vitamins to "baby medicine", that's pretty good. Now, we just need to get her to understand it's not something akin to a cold or flu (although that could take as long as 20 years).

7 comments:

Haley said...

Haha Scout! She is hilarious. Just spit it out! They really should ask if you have told her, that's kind of insensitive.

megandjon said...

yeah, i'm kind of shocked about the doctor too. but that Scout is a smartie!

Unknown said...

I definitely think the parents should be the first to break the news about a baby. The timing is key, right? And speaking of naming girls traditionally "male names", I saw Jeff Goldblum on David Letterman one time and he said that if he ever had a daughter he would want to namer her Charlie. The way he said it was so funny. He thought it was the most novel idea and was pleased with it. I think George would be cute for a girl. Do you remember in the Peanuts cartoons, the girl who was named 7? How about that?

Emily said...

I wonder if since we take Scout to the appointments, the doctors and nurses automatically assume that she knows. But, we're not getting a babysitter for a 15 minute appointment where they provide lots of toys in every exam room. They really should ask us if she knows, but nothing to do about it now.

Emily said...

Em- Yes, Charlie for a girl is a little Jack Weylandish and not a "novel" idea for us Mormons. I don't remember a peanut's character named 7 but I remember it being the name George wants to name a daughter he has someday on Seinfield. (Another couple like the idea and want to use it and he gets upset. He wants his daughter to be the only 7 in existence).

Unknown said...

Oh, I do remember that episode. Hee hee. Funny stuff. Sometimes George is really frustrating, don't you think? I love the one where Jerry's car smells like B.O. Elaine says, "What am I, hard of smelling?" I'm always looking for a good circumstance to use that line.

Emily said...

Haha. Cat's new car had a weird smell (cat urine) and the lot said it was the car cleaner. Needless to say, we referenced that episode a lot, but mostly pondered why a car cleaner would smell like cat pee. Not desirable.

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