I suppose introducing a new child into the life of a first kid is always difficult. I’ve gotten a lot of advice on how best to do it with JP these last months, most of it fairly obvious, and I won’t bother writing it all down. So far JP has taken the news well, and even seems excited about the prospect of having a sibling.
He’s been curious about any number of issues regarding his soon-to-be sister, but perhaps his most interesting question for me was when he asked if Ellie (that’s the name) would go with him to his mother’s house during the days he is there. He was a little upset when I told him no and tried to explain that his mother is his mother and Ellie’s mother is my girlfriend.
“But why can’t we share Ellie?” he wanted to know. I’m not going to turn this post into an explanation of how good I am at seizing teachable moments, but suffice to say that I offered an explanation and it seemed sufficient at the time. We haven’t talked about it since.
My great hope is that JP and Ellie will view each other as full siblings, and that this notion of half-whatever won’t be something that anyone insists on. We’ll see, though. Much of that depends on how they see each other as they grow older, as well as factors that we can’t really control: people at school, other friends, and the like.
Anyway, today JP is going to get his first opportunity to meet young (really young) Ellie, as we’re taking him with us to the last sonogram of the pregnancy. Now, they won’t be able to shake hands or anything like that, but he will see her, and hear her heartbeat, which is always a thrill for me as a parent.
I don’t know what he thinks about it, but I’m excited.