Will it be a baby brother??

As everyone is probably aware…………since fetal sex-determination is against the law in India….expectant parents will have to wait until the D-day arrives for them to find out if it’s a son or a daughter. Of course….even abroad …one may always choose not to find out and wish to keep it a surprise…but having lived in the US for couple of years sometime ago and having seen many of my friends go down this road, I can’t help but envy the mothers who are well aware of whether to pick out the blues or the pinks! J

Anyway, Abhay may have warmed up to the idea of being an older brother (Well….its about time..isnt it??),  however he continues to squirm at the oft repeated question “Do you want a brother or a sister?”  Though he has always had a definite answer to this question ….he has come to realize that whatever be his response ….there is always a follow-up question of “Why not the other?” which he is quite frankly tired of! Well….as it is he has had mixed feelings about being displaced from his current status of being “only kid” in the household …..now he is expected to justify why he wishes for a baby brother and not a sister?? Hmm….that’s too much! No wonder….his current response to “Do you want a brother or a sister?” ……..is the jaded “whatever!” J

While most of us are hoping for a girl this time as it will offer the best of both the worlds, there are times when I admit to preferring a boy over a girl simply because it will treading onto what I may call “known territory”!  Wouldn’t it be nice to have both our boys pile on the older one (my husband!) …instead of each parent being responsible for their own tribe?? J

Anyway, I couldn’t have found a book more similar to the situation at home and all thanks to a relative who yielded to our last minute request to have brought a couple of books over from the US.

As the cover explains it all ………“Will it be a baby brother” by Eve Bunting and illustrated by Beth Speigel is a nice little picture book that makes an ideal read for kids expecting a new arrival in their household. Young Edward is all set to be a big brother and his parents have already shortlisted names “James” if it’s a boy and “Sara” if it’s a girl!  But Edward is quite clear …any day he prefers James over Sarah. As his grandma prepares to knit a nice little sweater for the little one to come, and though they settle for a gender neutral yellow…he prefers blue! Edward is not to be persuaded into picking out something for a possible sister at his mother’s baby shower thrown by her friends.  When Edward is asked what if the baby turns out to be a sister…..then to everyone’s surprise Edward has a plan …to give the baby to his aunt Elizabeth! As months progress…..Edward feels even more strongly about wanting a boy and fills the baby’s crib with his dump truck, cowboy hat, baseball mitt! But as the day finally arrives ….Edward peers into the hospital crib ….only to find an adorable baby looking up at her big brother……and then he cant help but declare “There’s no way I’m going to give our baby to aunt Elizabeth!” As we’ve read this book many times over….I have been carefully observing Abhay’s reaction in the end…only to find out that he’s been doing the same with me…….  as he asks “Amma …… will the same thing happen to us?” After all this waiting ......it's now my turn to say  ……….“whatever”!! J