Why 5 children ....

When people ask my why I have five children, I always fall back on the old Bill Cosby line, "Because we didn't want six." I didn't get that joke until I had five children. I now find it absolutely hysterical. I have three boys and two girls. I love my children, but I'll admit there are some very challenging days. I never have a preference for boys or girls until my fourth child. I had the three boys first, so when I came up pregnant the fourth time I was in an absolute panic that I was having a fourth boy.

Now, I should explain the cause of this panic. My father is from a family of four boys and I grew up hearing stories about the things that went on in that house. There is a story of my uncles jumping off the garage roof using various devices. One tried using an umbrella, another a trash bag and a third just a towel tied like a cape. For any children reading, this don't get any bright ideas - none of these things worked and two of them ended up on crutches. The third apparently landed on the trash and smelled so bad even after taking a bath that he had to eat his dinner out on the porch that night. There is another story about someone (and to this day no one will admit who) painting the bathtub in the main bathroom black. There are many more similar stories, but you get the idea. This made me fear a fourth boy. Fortunately for me, my fourth and fifth children were girls.

This has brought about a different kind of panic. I was always a bit of a tom boy, so having a girlie girl is something of a challenge. The first time my daughter announced she wanted to be a princess for Halloween rather than joining her brothers as various members of the Harry Potter cast I didn't know what to do. I tried explaining the Hermione was really smart and could do magic, but she wasn't budging. "But she doesn't wear a crown Mommy" was the answer I got. What was I to do? I bought her the most girlie looking butterfly princess costume I could find. I struggle with this. I want my daughters to grown up knowing they can be anything they set their minds to be and to be healthy well adjusted adults. So, if that means she wants to be a princess for now then I guess she's a princess. Princess isn't that far from President, right? We'll see how it goes.