It appeared to any casual observer that we were meticulously planning to start a family. In actuality it wasn’t anything near that well planned. It just so happened that one day I jokingly said, “We should move,” and Lauren said, “Ok.” Three weeks later we had a new home. Furthermore, our decision to start a family had nothing to do with our living situation – Lauren and I just felt that the time was right for us to try to have a child, and we were blessed with one.
To further fuel the fallacy that we are “over planners,” it just so happened that we found out that Lauren was pregnant less than two months after moving into our home.
After Elliot’s arrival in 2011, we were completely overwhelmed (in a good way) with the amount of time and effort it took to raise a child. We marveled at how our parents both had our respective siblings less than 18 months after we were born. When Elliot was 9 months old, we were just happy if we all made it through a week without missing a day of work or having to buy takeout food every single night. The last thing we were thinking about was adding another child into the mix.
This thought really didn’t change for the first two years of Elliot’s life, but recently we’ve noticed that things seem to have finally slowed down a little. The feeling of being perpetually overwhelmed has subsided. Now we are starting to wonder weird things like “What would Elliot be like with a sibling?” and “Could we really handle two?” It’s weird how that happens.
In a totally unrelated note, I recently bought a new vehicle. Never one to put up with impracticality, I sold my gas-guzzling pickup truck and bought a mid-size SUV with comfortable seating for seven. We may have a history that equates large purchases and procreation, but let me stress that this purchase was based solely on being convenient for our current situation.
To be honest, we haven’t completely decided one way or another about a second one. But know that if we decide to have one, it will be the product of prayer and a sense that the time is right, not just because we have a few extra seats to fill.
Jordan Echols is a Communication & Image Zone Manager with Texas Health Resources and Dad to one son, Elliot.
I feel your pain. We're getting a lot of "Isn't it time for another one" comments, too. And in our case, those comments sting me, because no, we aren't having another. The hubs is convinced our family is complete, and I can't really go it alone on this one, so we're done. And I'm tired of answering the question and tired of throwing him under the bus about it.
ReplyDelete