This year, Tim and I took our children with us on our anniversary trip to Washington state. It’s a similar one that we took by ourselves three years ago. Obviously we modified it to suit their interests, less bookstores and more donut shops.
Having kids in general is an adventure all by itself. There are some parents who clearly under-think things and we tend to over-think them, but either way you can not fully predict what is going to happen next. Where do I start? The timing of even having them was wild. We didn’t get engaged until we were well into our thirties. Then we waited to get settled and both had good paying jobs with full health benefits. Yeah, no. The first positive pregnancy test came the month we moved to Erie, PA and still hadn’t established health insurance for either of us. So I went on the state’s knocked-up mom coverage for awhile. Nice.
Then we thought we’d have them close together for companionship. Wrong again. Kid number two waited six years to make her appearance. So much for family planning. The good news is that they are still close enough to both play and fight together. Phew.
The next assumption that I got wrong was having two girls. Since I grew up with three brothers and was a bit of a tomboy, I weirdly assumed I’d have boys. Most assumptions are emotional rather than logical, so don’t ask me how that was supposed to happen. Now I am in a house full of Barbies and sometimes do all pink loads of laundry. Sweeping the floor is just hair ties and glitter.
Another mistake we keep making is preparing for the wrong things. Tim and I have our individual mental lists of what we liked and didn’t like from our own childhoods. I had always wished I could be in Boy Scouts like my brothers, and now that they’ve included girls I was pretty excited for my kids. Nope, not interested. They want to do dance, swimming, and anime art. Cool. I also thought they might like to fit in with the other kids like I always tried to do. Overrated. They’re interested in being their own individuals. That one, it turns out, we are pretty pleased with.
