“Mommy, what are you going to do when I go to school?” “Mommy's going to make some money,” I hear myself say. He should have known that I'm counting down the days before he goes to kindergarten. I dream of flying the flag, dancing on the tables, curling up in bed all day with Netflix or having an extensive lunch with the girlfriends who are left. Little Man looks at me with a serious look. "Mommy, otherwise you'll just have another baby?" I choke on my coffee. A what? Where does that baby wish come from? “Where can you actually buy it, Mom?” I look at him amused.
Curious what the next question is.
"Honey, how nice of you, but the house is really full already, with four kids." The idea of buying a baby is music to my ears. No nine months of suffering, no childbirth and no gray cloud. Female-friendly, that son of mine.
Daughter 18, Adolescent Son 16 and Adolescent Daughter 14 are a full-time occupation. When Kleine Man was born four years ago, not only was the house really full, my days were also well filled with work, household and kids.
Now Little Man is finally going to kindergarten and a new world is opening up for me. New challenges. Time for the job I love most:writing. I just can't use a baby with that.
While I am concentrated behind my laptop at the kitchen table, I hear Adolescent Daughter 14 thundering down somewhere in the distance. The door flies open with a frenzy. I look at her, irritated by the noise with which she pulls me out of my story. “Mom?,” she says in a questioning tone.
Mom. I still melt every time she calls me that. She has been doing this since the birth of Kleine Man.
She slides a chair back. The scratching sound now draws my full attention away from my laptop. Leaning back, I grab my cup of green tea. Is this going to be a serious conversation? ‘We will soon have some more space because Daughter 18 wants to live on her own?’ Yeah right , there is quite a bit of space between wanting and doing.
‘I am also a bit older now… a baby could be added. If you'd like.' Are you kidding me?
At first I start to laugh. She's not serious about this, is she? But then, when I see that it is a real baby wish, my slow reaction gives way to an alert attitude. I'm going to sit up a little straighter. Then I shift uncomfortably.
“You must have spoken to Little Man?” I try, laughing. She's smiling too now. “Yes, he mentioned a baby, but I really thought it was a good idea!” Her eyes lit up. Am I seriously discussing my children's baby wish here?
"Well, I guess Daddy and I are still here to make the babies. You're still too young for that, also to practice.' I suddenly see it all in front of me… 'Besides, I'm really too young to be a grandma,' I add, startled. Grandma , I should not think about it. "We'll leave the babies in the baby shop for now, don't you think?"
And so 'the baby topic' is:exit.
Tip:Read a nice humorous book about a man with a baby wish who is confronted with the facts that he also needs a woman for that? Check out the book 'That's what you have friends for'
