Telling the Kids

This weekend, I had dinner with my accidentally pregnant friend LB and her two kids. Isa (she’s 7) and J (he’s almost 5) are so excited about their little sister-to-be, but we hadn’t told them about Chiquitita yet, and dinner was planned specifically so I could share my news.

We were all sitting outside before dinner when LB said, “Aunt Shannon has a surprise for you!”  Their eyes lit up and Isa said, “A surprise?  Where is it?”  I suggested they guess where it was, and after guesses like “your pocket”, “the kitchen”, “your purse” and “your car”, I decided to help them out, “It’s in my tummy!”

Isa’s face fell, I’m sure because she thought I meant I’d eaten her surprise!  When I told them the surprise, “I have a baby in my tummy!” Isa squealed and jumped up and down – just exactly the reaction any expectant mom wants from her big announcement.  J took a little longer to react.  First he said, “I didn’t know you were going to have a baby!”  And then, “But your tummy doesn’t look like there’s a baby in there.”  So I explained that my baby is a few months younger than their mom’s and so it’s smaller.  “Like a peanut?” J asked.  “Almost,” I replied, and was disappointed that I couldn’t remember what fruit Baby Center said Chiquitita resembles this week.

Isa’s first question was, “Is it a boy or a girl?”  I told her I didn’t know yet, but that I wanted to know what she thought it was.  “A girl,” while J said, “A boy.”  Isa then gave a long hard look at her mom’s abdomen and said with a sigh, “We already have a girl with Mom.  You can have a boy, so J will be happy.”  Isn’t that sweet of her? 

A little while later, we got up to go inside and I noticed J giving my stomach a long, hard look.  Then he looked up at me and said, “Yes, your tummy is still flat!”  After weeks of being asked about my faux baby bump, I was so thrilled to hear him call my stomach flat, because we all know that kids are painfully honest about that sort of thing!  They both surprised me by not asking about the baby’s father, not once all evening.  I’m sure that’s a question LB is going to get soon, though!

This coming weekend I’m telling my nephew.  I wonder if he’ll ask about the father again.  If he does, I’m planning on sticking to my, “No, just a mommy” story for now. He’ll get more details when he’s old enough to ask more questions.