Monday, August 19, 2013

Help! My child wants a child


Last week, we spent the better part of a day driving to Cape Cod. This is pretty much what we heard for most of the ride from Sabrina:

Sabrina: "Mommy, can we have another kid?"
Me: "Daddy and I will think about it!" [As we have been for several years....]
Sabrina: "But Mommy, I want us to have a baby!"
Me: "This isn't the type of decision we can make right now!"
Sabrina: "Oh, OK."

[5 minutes later]

Sabrina: "Mommy, other families have three kids! We should too!"
Me: "Daddy and I will consider it."
Sabrina: "Mommy, don't you want another baby?"
Me: "Yes, I do, but this is a bigger decision Daddy and I have to make."
Sabrina: "OK, but can we have one?"
Me: [Pulling my hair out]

[10 minutes later]

Sabrina: "Mommy, can we have another baby?"
Me: "Sabrina, please, stop asking. This is something Daddy and I will decide."
Sabrina: "I know, but please please please can we have one? Max still needs help with stuff so you can just take care of a baby too!"
Me: "That's an interesting point. Honey, listen, I know you would like another brother or sister and maybe someday we will have one but I don't know."
Sabrina: "I really want one!"
Me: "I can tell! But this isn't something you can control, so please stop asking."
Sabrina: "Well, you can adopt!"

[About 3.5 minutes later]

Sabrina: "Mommy, I waaaaaant another baby!"

[Repeat repeat repeat repeat repeat repeat repeat]

At the restaurant we stopped at for dinner:

Me: "Sabrina, do you want a salad with grilled chicken?"
Sabrina: "You KNOW what I want."
Me: "Yes, but what do you want for dinner?"
Sabrina: "A baby."

[5 minutes later]

Sabrina: "How do you get pregnant?"
Me: "Like we've talked about: The Mommy and Daddy love each other and make a baby."
Sabrina: "But really what happens?"
Me: We've talked about that too! The Daddy's penis lets out a seed inside the Mommy's vagina."
Dave: "HONEY!!! She is too young for that!"
Me: "Um, no, she's not."
Sabrina: "Ewwww, I can't believe you said that at dinner!"

That actually succeeded in clamming her up.

[Back at home several days later]

Sabrina (calling from the mall): "Mommy! Can I get a dog? They are doing free dog adoptions here!"
Me: "No, honey, I'm sorry, we have to think that over."
Sabrina: "OK. Then can we get a baby?"
Me: [Pulls out rest of hair.]

31 comments:

  1. I LOVE Sabrina she's a persistent little thing :) I remember my mom and dad telling me we were having another baby I was excited.

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    1. Yes, "persistent little thing" is one way to describe her. :)

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  2. So, I guess I'm too old for you to adopt me? :-)

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  3. Wait. So you're telling me that my husband's penis has seeds? What in the.....

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    1. This is very distressing. My Mom told me that babies came in the doctor's black bag!

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    2. Darn. That is what I should have told Sabrina, should have consulted with you first.

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  4. I can't stop laughing about Kate's comments. I have a very lovely baby here that I can lend you and Sabrina for a few hours (You all seem reasonably responsible and loving. I'll go sleep, thanks!.) Also, a lovely dog that can be for rent. She might change her mind.

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    1. OK, just let me know your rent-a-baby/rent-a-dog fees and maybe Sabrina could even pay for it out of her allowance!

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  5. Did one of her friends have a baby sibling recently? Wonder why it's so urgent.
    My twin girls used to pester me for a baby brother. I told them that wouldn't be happening unless I magically became years younger and much richer, so now one of them--the girly one!--has just decided that they're both boys--she's picked out new names and everything.

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    1. Helena, this is an excellent question and I don't have the answer! When I was her age I loved babies, could be the same with her.

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  6. Oh Sabrina! My daughter begged for a baby brother/sister and when she got one she wanted nothing to do with him.(She was 8)

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  7. Give her a flour baby or an egg baby that she has to look after for a week. She can decorate it, name it and take it everywhere and make sure it doesn't get damaged. If she needs to leave it alone, she has to arrange a baby sitter. The egg must stay whole and the flour bag must weigh the same as at the beginning.

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  8. Asking for the baby miiiiight have been a way for her to make asking for a dog a much more reasonable proposition LOL.

    (Me? I set out food/water for my imaginary dog, used a skipping rope as a least to walk my imaginary dog and kept this up, four times a day, for almost two months before my parents relented and let me adopt a dog at age 8!).

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    1. I am going to propose an imaginary baby to her right away!

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  9. I love this!!!! It is a huge decision but siblings can be very persuasive! Coop asks me lots too for a baby and his response when we got down to the nitty gritty " really? You actually did that with Dad????" With his face all screwed up!

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  10. Wow, I could relate to this. Your daughter and mine would be great friends, I think. :) My Anna (she just turned 9) bugged us for years and finally gave up...you should have seen her surprise when last month we told her we are expecting #3. She is sooo excited. It IS a big decision, particularly for those with a special needs child (my son has relatively mild autism). I say take the plunge and go for it, but of course it's a very personal decision!

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  11. I have two sisters, and a little brother with CP. Not to add pressure/guilt to a very important decision, but the three of us have truly enriched his life in a way that only one of us could not. There is strength in numbers too!

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    1. I know, trust me, that's a biggie in our "pro" column.

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  12. I begged my mom for a baby brother or sister at Sabrina's age. Little did I know that my terrorizing toddler antics had sent my mom to Tubal Ligation R Us years ago...

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    1. HA!!! I guess that could be a handy excuse, if it comes to it. :)

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  13. Find a way to borrow one of these http://www.realityworks.com/products/realcare-baby
    That should do it!

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  14. Wow, that's one high-tech baby doll. Back when Dave and I took a parenting class before we had Max, he couldn't figure out how to diaper the doll and I laughed so hard I thought I'd give birth right then and there.

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  15. My daughter was the same when Hubby and I got together. She was 12 and we had a whole year of it. I think had we been able to afford it and if I hadn't been studying an accountancy qualification at the time we would have had a baby. Now she is 19 and wants one of her own - I'm convincing her she should enjoy her wages and use them on holidays before she ties herself down with bills let alone a baby. I think I have convinced her.....until the next time she mentions it.

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  16. Awww-if that isn't the most pitiful face I have ever seen! I remember asking my Mom and Dad for a baby. And I remember my daughter wanting us to have a baby. I guess she was serious about this baby stuff because I just found out she's pregnant with #3! I guess it's a girl thing most every parent goes through. But I don't know if I have seen any quite as insistent as Sabrins. It's really cute to me but I'm sure it's driving you batty! This too shall pass. Think you'll miss it? Lol

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  17. bwah ha ha! She can babysit mine (with help) for a week--- trust me, she'll change her mind. :)

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  18. That was me at some point...

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Thanks for sharing!