My husband and I are the proud parents of one child, a boy. Sure, when we first married, we were excited to have a couple of kids, preferably a boy and a girl (my husband's wish) or two boys (my wish). Sadly, my body could barely carry one to full term, and the idea of 30 weeks of bedrest with a toddler felt impossible to me. It's taken me nearly 10 years to get my energy back, and I'm still working on my body.
But three seems to be a perfect number for us. It has religious significance: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, for example. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as another example. We also have three bathrooms, which is absolutely perfect some nights! In restaurants, it's usually easier to seat three more quickly than four.
While many folks want to criticize us for having 'only' one child, we are grateful for the one child we have. Some tell us how lonely our son must be without brother and sisters, but he doesn't know differently, so how can he be lonely? I'm always amazed at how easily people who don't know us and our experiences judge us for our 'selfish' choice. We don't see ourselves as selfish; we see ourselves as lucky because we nearly didn't have our son.
And he is an amazing young man! As I write this, he's shredding zucchini to help his dad bake chocolate zucchini bread. He's interested in cooking, working with his hands, helping his dad make things, and mowing the lawn. He draws, paints, plays a drum, shoots a compound bow, and likes camping. His newest hobby is playing games on the computer, which he can do for great lengths of time, and it causes his attention span to decrease. He's also interested in reading, watching movies and TV shows, the art and natural history museums. Plus his interest in karate. There are also his dislikes: cleanliness, doing dishes and laundry, putting away his clothes, doing homework, and cleaning up dog poop. He's a happy child, who giggles easily and smiles often.
Recently, he found out he doesn't like sharing a seat on the bus when his class went on a field trip. And since his dad and I both have brothers, we torture him much like we tortured our siblings, playing games like "I'm not touching you," wrestling, and "why?" Much like our siblings, he hates those games, but we think they're good for him so he isn't missing out too much as an only child.
Our family treasures our group hugs and other moments together. We play card and board games with one another, ride our bikes together, go hiking together. We want our son to know how much we love him as well as know how to enjoy the world beyond our four walls. We want him to know how to do his laundry and cook for himself so he can survive on his own eventually. He also makes his own lunch so he can pack what he wants for lunch. He's an independent child, for the most part.
As I write, the guys are baking. I've made dinner--it's in the oven. We'll eat dinner, have a bit of dessert, and then crawl into the couch to cuddle and watch some cartoon movie. Sure, we get mad at each other, we frustrate one another, but ultimately, we love one another and truly enjoy spending time together.
I am a blessed and happy woman.
