More than one!
As a male I am awed by the fact that many women intentionally have more than child or set of children if the first happens to be multiple births. I am convinced that if we males were the ones assigned this task the human race would soon be extinct. Not only would one want to forego being physically off balance for at least several of the nine months of the getting acquainted period by some new creature who demands center stage, the thought that this very same demanding creature would expect to make the journey through a single lane road with sharp cliffs on either side or expect one to be sliced open leaves on cowing in fear. Personally, I don’t care how many extra chore hands pop out I would not agree to go through this process more than once. I am happy that my mother and not my father was the one to give birth to all 5 of us including the last surprise sibling who arrived 14 years after I was born. (As a 13-year-old I did not understand why my mother would be so concerned about losing this extra mouth to feed since feeding the family of six was already a source of daily stress. In fact, I recall getting beat for asking that very question. Needless to say, I did not ask it again but I did wonder why it would be a big deal if my third sister never arrived.)
My son is an only child which has advantages and disadvantages. The main disadvantage of being an only child is that there is no one with whom to share responsibility for aging parents. There is also no one with whom one can do reality checks to verify or disprove childhood memories. The main advantage of being an only child is one does not have to share. Yet, even with 4 siblings I only have one with whom I have the semblance of shared memories. The age differences were such that it was as if my older sister and I shared a childhood, the next two, Pat and Ed, shared another childhood and Tamara was an only child being raised by a single parent much of her life.
In many respects, each sibling has a very unique family experience. None have the same siblings or the same parents. Not only do parents and circumstances keep changing as we grew into and embrace or fight adulthood, we each embrace or fight our own truths. The various truths often battle with each other. We may “know” that all truths are subjective, but this does not curtail the insistence of each of us that we are the owners of a universal family truths.
Very soon each of us will return to Mother Earth. If lucky, the return journey may be a tad smoother than the painful, intrusive arrival. Sooner or later, depending on the assistance we give or withhold from the energy molecules which comprise his human form, our molecules will join others to form a flower, water or perhaps a rock. Then again we might be joined by molecules from ancestors to the rooster who will attempt to awaken the human race. Cock a doodle doo!
542 words
Written May 6, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
Coachpickett.org
As a male I am awed by the fact that many women intentionally have more than child or set of children if the first happens to be multiple births. I am convinced that if we males were the ones assigned this task the human race would soon be extinct. Not only would one want to forego being physically off balance for at least several of the nine months of the getting acquainted period by some new creature who demands center stage, the thought that this very same demanding creature would expect to make the journey through a single lane road with sharp cliffs on either side or expect one to be sliced open leaves on cowing in fear. Personally, I don’t care how many extra chore hands pop out I would not agree to go through this process more than once. I am happy that my mother and not my father was the one to give birth to all 5 of us including the last surprise sibling who arrived 14 years after I was born. (As a 13-year-old I did not understand why my mother would be so concerned about losing this extra mouth to feed since feeding the family of six was already a source of daily stress. In fact, I recall getting beat for asking that very question. Needless to say, I did not ask it again but I did wonder why it would be a big deal if my third sister never arrived.)
My son is an only child which has advantages and disadvantages. The main disadvantage of being an only child is that there is no one with whom to share responsibility for aging parents. There is also no one with whom one can do reality checks to verify or disprove childhood memories. The main advantage of being an only child is one does not have to share. Yet, even with 4 siblings I only have one with whom I have the semblance of shared memories. The age differences were such that it was as if my older sister and I shared a childhood, the next two, Pat and Ed, shared another childhood and Tamara was an only child being raised by a single parent much of her life.
In many respects, each sibling has a very unique family experience. None have the same siblings or the same parents. Not only do parents and circumstances keep changing as we grew into and embrace or fight adulthood, we each embrace or fight our own truths. The various truths often battle with each other. We may “know” that all truths are subjective, but this does not curtail the insistence of each of us that we are the owners of a universal family truths.
Very soon each of us will return to Mother Earth. If lucky, the return journey may be a tad smoother than the painful, intrusive arrival. Sooner or later, depending on the assistance we give or withhold from the energy molecules which comprise his human form, our molecules will join others to form a flower, water or perhaps a rock. Then again we might be joined by molecules from ancestors to the rooster who will attempt to awaken the human race. Cock a doodle doo!
542 words
Written May 6, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
Coachpickett.org
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