Welcome back.  Things in the Waterkotte household are as fun and funny as they've ever been.  Greta is getting a sense of humor, and Jackson won't stop smiling.  I seriously can't get him to stop smiling and laughing.  I can't get him to sleep either.  He likes to be awake and smiling.  That is, of course, unless you have a camera.  Then the smile goes away, and the "what is THAT" look appears.  Which is OK because it still makes for a cute picture.

I've noticed that being a boy's father is completely different than being a girl's father.  At least on a mental level.  Physically I treat them the same, but with a boy, I have a lot more work to do...on myself.  While Maggie, our perennial mother-of-the-year, was pregnant with Jackson I was thinking I'd prefer to have another girl.  The weight of NOT pressuring your children into doing what YOU want them to do is heavy enough, but then heap on the whole 'living vicariously thru your boy' thing and sheesh.  That's something I KNOW I could fall victim to very easily.  I look back at my formative years and I know there are plenty of things I'd do differently.  I'd have started playing baseball earlier.  Same with hockey.  I'd have DEFINITELY played Football, and I'd have kept a close eye on my eating habits.  So I know when Jack gets to be old enough to wear a baseball glove, or hold a hockey stick, I'm going to want to equip him with these things.  I am going to want him to be REALLY good too.  'Uncoordinated' will NOT be a word mentioned when discussing my son.  

Don't look now, but suddenly I'm pushing him to be an athlete and I am still pushing him in a stroller.  What if Jack has an appetite for the arts?  What if he's a natural dancer?  What if he's a great thinker and has absolutely no desire to put on a baseball mit, let alone play tackle football?  Am I going to be OK with that?  Genuinely OK with it?  Just writing that made me cringe.  And then I thought, how dare you cringe at that?  Who are you to judge great thinkers, or dancers?  You're just mad that your chance to play center field for the Chicago Cubs is gone forever.  

See what I mean?  With Greta, none of these things ever concerned me.  I never even considered them, let alone entertained the big one.  "What if my son turns out to be gay?"  Luckily I'm not from the school of homophobia.  If he is gay, I hope he meets a nice guy, adopts some kids, and has a wonderful life.  But think about those guys that graduated from that school?  I think they call them republicans.  

After giving it a lot of thought, I'm glad I have both.  Greta allows me to remember my manners.  She makes me pay attention to what I say and how I treat them.  I am relatively sure I won't be disappointed if Jack isn't the center fielder for the Chicago Cubs.