A few weeks ago I posted this picture to Instagram of my girls at Mac's school Easter Egg hunt. Caitlin so eager to help her sister find all the good eggs before they were gone, the team work just melted my heart. Most days they are fighting over the iPad or who gets what Barbie doll. And just for a moment I saw it. That magic that everyone talks about. The magic between sisters. And I knew. We don't need no stinkin boys.
We have reached the point in our family life where people ask, "Are you guys done having kids?".
I guess it really isn't any body's business, but I always answer YES. Almost immediately. We are most certainly done. But then someone, usually a man, will chime in with,
"Well don't you think John needs a boy?"
Huh.
Now I've given any number of flippant answers to this question over the years. Believe it or not, I started getting questions about "trying for a boy" as soon as we found out Mac was a girl, as if two girls in the family was the worst thing that could ever happen to us. I've said things like "We don't need another penis to validate this family", or "I need another man in my life like I need a hole in my head". But the truth is I learned the best lessons about having two girls from a complete stranger.
When I was pregnant with Mac, my mom, Caitlin and I were having lunch at our local Chik-Fil-A. We sat next to another mommy about my age with a daughter about Caitlin's age at the time. We smiled and said hello, and of course because we both had obvious bellies we asked each other if we knew what we were having. I at the time didn't, it was too early, but she did. She said I'm having a girl, and before we could say anything, she said, "And we think it's wonderful, because having a sister is the greatest gift you can get in life". I smiled and agreed and knew at that moment if I wasn't having the boy that everyone (including me) wanted, it was going to be ok. And as you well know, it is very much ok.
As I watch my daughters I'm a little envious I don't have a sister. There is something magical about having a flesh and blood secret keeper. I like that they don't have to be alone, unless by choice. And even though they fight like sisters do (from what I've been told), they love each other anyway. There is something so sacred about that.
I'll admit that after Mac's birthday last week I really did want another baby. A little life we could watch grow all over again. To hit all those milestones and love and cuddle and adore. Sure, a boy would be nice, but I think it was just the idea of having a baby in the family again. Not a gender specific want, but an emotional "my babies are no longer babies" want.
Because from where I stand, we are good. We are happily living in a world of pink sparkles and glitter hearts. A world filled with tea parties and American Girl magazines and One Direction (Yes! Already!). We tell secrets and paint and we even play in the dirt and cheer on the San Francisco Giants. I'm sure Daddy would like to one day have a professional football player in the family, I'm pretty sure he will gladly accept a talented ballerina, gymnast, writer, artist, actor, or scholar. As long as one of them goes to Fresno State.
Because contrary to popular belief and the penis to vagina ratio in this family, we are good. Really good.
