Johnny's reaction to the news of his mother's pregnancy.
Thursday, May 17, 2007, nearly three o'clock in the afternoon, DST~
Dear Journal~
You're not going to believe this, but my mother's pregnant. Yes, you heard right: my mom's going to have a baby.
After the fact that she's adopted sixty kids, most with special needs.
Mom's been feeling sick the past few mornings; in fact, yesterday and the day before she came home from work early because she had an upset stomach. Today she didn't come home until just a little bit ago; she said she still felt sick when she went in, but she was determined to stick her shift. Which she did.
She said by afternoon the sick feeling went away, and now she's fine. She's in the kitchen, cooking chili con carne. I can smell the flavors simmering from the kitchen, and it's making my mouth water with the anticipation of eating her good home-made cookin'.
Yesterday she went to the doctor's office; the doctor was the one who told her she was pregnant, which was news to us. After all, you don't hear of something like this every day on the news. A woman adopts sixty kids, and then she finds out she's pregnant. If that isn't news, then I don't know what is.
Sounds like world-class news to me!
Mom's about two months pregnant. She says her boobs are getting sore, and she says that in about two months she should start to show. People will then be looking and wondering what is going on. I can just see it all now: people'll be asking me (or daddy or mom) if "she's pregnant; she looks like she's gaining weight". It'll be annoying at best, especially to me, because everyone will be asking about mom and not me.
I don't know if I can relish the thought of having another baby in the house. I mean, two are enough. Between Emir's waking up at the crack of dawn every morning or Arjun crying because he pooped in his bed again or wet himself is more than a guy like me can take. Personally I find that to be disgusting.
Now we will have to worry about little hands getitng in places they should not be, little feet or bodies moving at cheetah speed, watching out for a little person, so they don't get into trouble, or worrying about things like sippy cups, naps, diaper changes, or cleaning up messes from the carpet, floor, or even on little baby clothes. Not fun by any stretch of the imagination!
I don't know if I can handle caring for a little baby again, especially since my own health isn't that great. I don't have the strength to hold a little wigglyworm of a baby in my lap, and I can't move fast enough if a baby climbs up onto the couch and falls from it in his attempt to reach for a tempting object on the shelf.
If something happened to where the baby fell off and hurt himself, I don't know if I could live with that. That's too much responsibility on anyone, but particularly a kid who has problems like mine.
Most of the kids are happy about mom's pregnancy, but as for me, I'm scared to death. I don't know if I could handle another baby around the house. I don't know if I could handle any more noise from a grubby kid who doesn't know how to take care of himself.
I don't know if I could handle babypoop or a baby peeing or puking on me. I don't know if I could handle a baby pulling out my catheter tube or popping my catheter bag, like Arjun or Emir have been known to do (and then mom has two or THREE messes to clean up besides the babies'!).
Ronee' is a little worried too, but I am more so. After all, Ronee' can take care of a baby. I can't. I am not that fast, even in my wheelchair, and I just don't have the ability to care for an infant when they need a babysitter, not like I used to. I am more scared for the infant getting hurt, and then I'd feel responsible for his getting hurt. I don't think I could live with the guilt associated with it.
Well, I have managed to depress myself again, so I am going to go now. I am going to play on the computer now, take my mind off things, off mom, off her pregnancy, off little babies wrecking up my things, my room...
Until later, this is Johnny saying so long for now! I will write in here another day; hopefully I'll be in a better mood...
~Love, your worried pal, Johnny. :(
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Reviewed by d. k
5/18/2007
That's a youngster......always worried these days! Give him a few days and he'll soon change the "I" to "We"......lololol! Super write my friend!
A great write and a realistic look at how many siblings react to an addition to their family. Johnny's done great after all it's not the first addition, but this one comes in a different way! Great twist on this story, can't wait to follow the pregnancy...I'll bet there will be all kinds of surprises! Enjoyed!
Blessings,
Joyce Bowling
Johnny will get used to the pitter patter of little feet: why, I bet he will be the baby's biggest advocate once he gets here! :) I mean, look: he's had to get used to fifty nine brothers and sisters...what's another baby 'round the house? :) An excellent sharing of typical boy worries...very well penned.
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