only child

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Dear Jack: You’re Starting Pre-K Next Week

4 years, 9 months.

r1

Dear Jack,

Our family recently attended the Rainbow Summer Social at Rainbow Child Care Center. They had a fire truck for us to tour; as well as a photo booth and carnival games.

You were very happy that you basically had unlimited access to just keep playing the same games and to have the ability to keep winning prizes.

Dear Jack: You’re Starting Pre-K Next Week

A collection of sticky rubber frogs made their way back to our house.

Next week you officially begin Pre-K. You and I, along with your current teacher Ms. Aimee, recently made a Jack-Man episode to promote the brand-new Pre-K classroom.

(Click the image below to watch our video.)

You’ve expressed to me that you’re particularly excited about your new classroom because, “it has really cool dinosaurs.”

Jack, this is your last year of preschool before I begin taking you to Kindergarten! A year from now, I’m sure I’ll be posting my (obligatory) “1st Day of Kindergarten” picture on Facebook.

Dear Jack: You’re Starting Pre-K Next Week

Mommy and I keep saying how you really are a boy now.

As your parents, we’ve grown accustomed to living with a boy version of a toddler. Now, with you nearly 5 years old, we’re living with a boy; not simply just a boy version of something.

These are the days of you getting to pick out which underwear to wear each day. You get to decide whether it’s going to be a Transformers or a Ninja Turtles kind of day.

r4

I look at your genetically unlikely blonde highlights as well as your genetically unlikely blue eyes and think, “This kid used to be my baby. But now, this is my boy.”

Though I might be saying this too much here lately, I’m just so proud that you are my son.

The future is unclear whether or not Mommy and I will ever have another child.

You may be it. Either way, you are one special kid.

Love,

Daddy

4 Comments Posted on parenting, Spirituality, Storytelling

What If We Only Want To Have One Child?

June 5, 2012 at 10:04 pm , by 

A year and a half.

It’s a decision that only my wife and I can make for ourselves, yet we’re open to hearing input from the free world.

For the past several months now, we have been leaning towards the decision to only have one child. It’s not the stress of parenthood getting the best of us. After all, at 18-months old, our son is pretty low-maintenance.

He’s the best son we can ask for and we’re so blessed to have him. So… why overdo it and have another kid?

I love the idea of only having our son. We can pour all of our energy and time into this one special person.

Whatever interests and passions he wants to pursue, we can support him fully.

No conflicts with our other kids’ schedules. No fighting in the back seat on the drive to Florida for family vacation.

Less financial worries. Less stress on our marriage.

As we’ve talked to couples who decided to only have one kid, they share no regrets about it.

I admit: I want to be part of the cool “One Kid Only” club.

As I try to sort through this, I gather reasons why we should consider having another child:

Who will take care of us when we’re old? What if something happens to our son and then we have no children at all? Wouldn’t it be sad for our son if he had no siblings to grow up with?

While I can continue to think of more Debbie Downer questions like these, I really don’t see how answering them will change how I feel:

I want to raise an only-child. I believe I will be feel completely fulfilled with just one kid.

Right now I am 31 years old and my wife almost is. Biologically, we’re still good for several more years.

So how long do we wait before we know to go ahead and make it official? How long before I go “get the surgery” and I can move forward as the proud parent of one child?

Yes, I know: If my parents would have made the same decision then my sister wouldn’t be here. Neither would my wife, who is 9 of 10 kids.

I want my wife to get her “mating’s worth” out of me. That’s important. And it would be one thing if I was simply telling my exclusive thoughts on this, but I’m not.

In fact, though I’ve been kicking this blog idea around for months now, I didn’t actually plan to write or publish it.

But my wife convinced me otherwise. This is something we both feel the same way about, yet want to be sure about.

This can ultimately only end in one of three ways that I can think of:

A) We delay up to about 4 more years before I get the surgery.

B) We choose to have another kid.

C) We surprisingly get pregnant as we try to figure this out.

Okay, passing the mic to you now. The two of us want your insight. Any advice and direction you’re willing to share?