The Reason We Decided to Have a Kid

When Ed and I announced that we were going to be parents, we received a varied reaction from our friends. There were the usual congratulations, but also several looks of disbelief. Most importantly, people wondered if the Grateful Ed’s era had come to a close. Would the taps in the basement from which homebrew flowed freely be turned into seltzer and lemonade dispensers? (Not yet.) How would we give up after work happy hours? (Our most reliable happy hour friends left the country.) Would we spend all of our time obsessing about sleep habits and poop? (Yes, for a while, but we think we might be over that phase.)


Up until now, the naysayers (or naythinkers, I suppose), may have had a point. What were we thinking? After all, Connor has been mostly a drain when it comes to household chores and generally consumes a whole lot of time that could have been spent drinking a beer, playing darts, or lounging around. He not only fails to contribute in significant ways to cleaning up, he tends to leave a path of destruction whenever he leaves a room. His nanny continues to work with him on picking up toys, but as far as I can tell, the progress is slow.

But now, I can see the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. We have established a bi-weekly date night (woohoo!), and Connor is starting to show some interest in keeping the household running. With a little help, Connor is able to push the mower quite a distance. Unfortunately, turning the mower is quite difficult, and he would become so upset that he almost cried a couple of times when he was “mowing” and reached the end of the yard. Ed or I would quickly rectify the situation so Connor could continue his work. Now…if only he could push the mower when it was ON!

Elaine