Telling the Fam

We decided to tell the kids about the baby on the way to Mr. Man's parents' house for Thanksgiving. It's a 4 hour drive, so we figured they'd be able to get out any questions on the way. I'm not sure how I expected them to react, but thankfully they were both very excited. This is one area where I feel they are different from public-schooled children - they have no one telling them that their mom having a baby isn't "cool", like when my own baby brother was born.

We told the Man's side of the family right before Thanksgiving dinner. The look on my father-in-law's face was priceless! It made me wish we'd been filming it! It was the classic look of shock: round, wide eyes and round, wide mouth. Everyone was very excited. Everyone, that is, except our 3 1/2 year old nephew. His reaction? "That is NOT gonna be my cousin!" That was his line all weekend, whenever someone asked him about his new cousin. We started calling it "the devious cousin".

I had wanted to wait until Christmas to tell people, because I wanted to do something fun for my mom. Like hanging a pair of booties on the tree and seeing how long it took her to notice. Or, wrapping up a tiny pair of baby shoes for her to open, with a tag inside saying "To be filled on or around August 3rd". But, since Mr. Man didn't think I could keep it a secret that long, he wanted to tell everyone right away.

So, after we ate dinner, we called my parents and had them put the phone on speaker. Super Girl got to make the announcement, as Wonder Boy had done it earlier. I knew my mom would be excited, as she had made a comment a few weeks before about being sad that she probably wouldn't have more grandkids (at least not until my brother gets married - and he's not seeing anyone). My dad and brother didn't have too much to say, but my mom and I proceeded to have a nice discussion about being pregnant in your thirties (she was 33 when my brother was born, and I am 31). She told me about things I either didn't know or didn't remember from that time. I'm kind of glad Mr. Man wanted to tell, now that I think of it, because I can't guarantee I won't be sick or showing a little by the time we get to my parents' house for Christmas. I think my mom probably would have figured it out and ruined the surprise.