These sorts of conversations, where Will wonders about the various mysteries of the universe, always pop out of nowhere. One minute he’s eating a bite of cereal, the next he’s asking:
Why are boys born in women’s bellies too?
Do you mean you think boys should come from men’s bellies and girls should come from women’s bellies?
Yeah.
Hmmm. Well all babies come from women’s bellies. Only women’s bodies can have babies.
But my dad!
Nope. Daddy can’t have babies. I had you and Owen in my belly.
Well, I’m Ally’s dad and Ally’s dad had to grow a little baby in his tummy. And I have to nurse my baby too.
And so we find a way to compromise. Sure, most of the time it’s women who do the childbearing in my world. But if Will wants to mother his imaginary Ally, I’m happy to watch him defy the laws of nature and play the nurturer too.
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3 comments:
It's funny you'd post this today. Just yesterday I found my 15 1/2 month old son hugging, rocking, and "nursing" his 3 year old sister's baby doll.
But, he also likes to push cars around the house making "car noises" and to smash trucks into the walls.
How wonderful to have strong, masculine, gentle and nurturing sons!
I love it when they "nurse." Ever since Owen's birth I've periodically caught Owen on the couch, shirt raised, Winnie the Pooh lying horizontal across his chest while he nurses him. I posted a photo of it quite a while back...
Ran across this Gloria Steinem quote this week, which makes your point: “We've begun to raise daughters more like sons... but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters.”
Errr... I mean I've caught Will on the couch, shirt raised.... (Although when Owen's in one of those non-onesie big boy shirts with no buttons at the crotch, he's likely to raise his shirt too.)
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