Ambivalence
When we were expecting Dutch (not that we were really expecting HER, exactly), everyone around us was delighted and supportive.* I quit my job to be home with her fulltime, and Cook was working at a fulltime job with benefits. While we were on a pretty tight budget, at least we had some stability. This time around, we have a much tighter budget, no stability, no benefits, and not exactly terrific financial prospects. Plus, we're older, and have been living in a post-collegiate, starting-up-a-career limbo state for 11 years, so we're starting to look like the irresponsible, never-grows-up characters in a family drama, not the go-getter young family. Not to mention that the whole economy is blowing away like a sand dune. So the responses we get to the statement "We're having a baby!" are less effusive, and frequently fall into the category of "On purpose?!"
This is probably also affected by the way we present it. While this is (really) a planned pregnancy, both Cook and I were taken aback when the "plan" actually came to fruition, before we'd really thought it through carefully. It was a pretty reckless decision. There are two issues here - whether to have a second kid at all, and if so, when to have it. There are actually pretty good reasons to have a second kid now rather than later (aging eggs, flexible schedule, availability of cheap and excellent childcare, etc.), but there aren't really any good reasons for us to have a second kid, except that Dutch will need help hunting and gathering enough food and bartering materials to support her aging parents in the post-apocalyptic world we're anticipating. Our philosophy on this can be more or less summed up as "what the heck - why not?" but we're definitely feeling a lot more ambivalent than with Dutch.
Anyway, yes, we are thrilled about the impending arrival of our offspring. It's going to be a pain in the ass, and I don't have a clue how our future will pan out. But having a kid is an investment in the future, and while that's a scary thing to invest in right now, it feels like the right thing to do. Plus, I really can't wait to meet our new person.
However, anything you can do over the next year or so to fix the economy and create new jobs for planners and cartographers would be greatly appreciated.
* Though I was a mere 28 years old when Dutch was born, which is more or less the equivalancy of a teen pregnancy in my peer group, so many people were surprised.
This is probably also affected by the way we present it. While this is (really) a planned pregnancy, both Cook and I were taken aback when the "plan" actually came to fruition, before we'd really thought it through carefully. It was a pretty reckless decision. There are two issues here - whether to have a second kid at all, and if so, when to have it. There are actually pretty good reasons to have a second kid now rather than later (aging eggs, flexible schedule, availability of cheap and excellent childcare, etc.), but there aren't really any good reasons for us to have a second kid, except that Dutch will need help hunting and gathering enough food and bartering materials to support her aging parents in the post-apocalyptic world we're anticipating. Our philosophy on this can be more or less summed up as "what the heck - why not?" but we're definitely feeling a lot more ambivalent than with Dutch.
Anyway, yes, we are thrilled about the impending arrival of our offspring. It's going to be a pain in the ass, and I don't have a clue how our future will pan out. But having a kid is an investment in the future, and while that's a scary thing to invest in right now, it feels like the right thing to do. Plus, I really can't wait to meet our new person.
However, anything you can do over the next year or so to fix the economy and create new jobs for planners and cartographers would be greatly appreciated.
* Though I was a mere 28 years old when Dutch was born, which is more or less the equivalancy of a teen pregnancy in my peer group, so many people were surprised.
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