There is some folklore in my family. Well, folklore seems to be a bit light. There is legend told in my family that there aren’t any women born into the family. They are all married into it. Or so the legend goes… Oh, the legend is taken as faith by many of the people in the family. Oddly enough the people who hold the tightest to this faith typically have married into the family.
On Friday of last week we found out that we will be having a stubborn little girl come June of this year. “Why stubborn?” you ask? Well, dear reader, it seems that this little one even with much ungentle coaxing never uncrossed her ankles nor straightened her legs. If it had not become a battle of wills between her and the Dr performing the ultrasound, we probably would not have found out the gender of the baby to be. Plus, I am stubborn and Wifey is stubborn. The chances that any child of ours not being stubborn are fairly high bordering on inevitable. Oh, for those of you who did not know, we are having a little girl. We found out on Friday.
Friday night we had the task of letting family know the joyous news. Wifey’s family was all “Oh, another one, big deal.” I kid, I kid, they were very excited. When telling my family the response was a bit different. I started off by just telling my dad because mom wasn’t home when I called.
Me: Well, we had our tour of the baby ultrasound today. Ten fingers. Ten toes. Umbilical chord where it is supposed to be with the correct number of arteries and veins. Internal organs are internal. Has a bladder. No discernable cleft palette. Stomach seems to be working. Oh, and you will be having a granddaughter.
My Dad: ** Stunned silence**
Me: Dad, we are having a little girl.
My Dad: ummm… a girl… **stunned**
Honestly I could not have stunned the man more if I had hit him in the head with a ball-peen hammer. It took him about 30 seconds to really recover, but then he was amazingly excited.
Me: Well, Mom, we are having a little girl.
My Mom: Well, if anyone was going to go against family tradition it would be you. There hasn’t been a girl born in forever.
Me: Mom, I don’t believe any of that hogwash, plus, Dad has a sister. Her name is Nancy. She is only one generation away from me, and she is in yours.
My Mom: She was the first daughter that the family has had since before William the Conqueror.
Me: I soooo don’t believe that. William the Conqueror had daughters, plus I doubt if we are directly related to him anyway.
My Mom: No, it’s true, I have the family tree. I will show you!
Me: Fine, bring it, I would love to see it.
So there it is, the legend of the Family: There has not been a daughter born to the family since before William the Conqueror. There are clearly holes in this fable. Firstly, I honestly doubt any direct lineage to Big Willy. If we were directly related to Willy Le Bâtard, and there were no daughters associated with that line, our last name would not be Hart, it would be Angevin or some such surname legacy of nobility/royalty surname.
Secondly, MY DAD HAS A FREAKIN SISTER! No to mention historically speaking (relatively recent historical sense surely) the family hasn’t generated very many kids. My brother has 2 kids. I will have 2 kids come June. My grandpa on my dad’s side only had one brother and each of them only had 2 kids. That is not exactly a gigantic statistical sample to pull from. In 12 kids there will only be 2 girls born in 4 generations. Sure one would expect more of a 5 to 7 or 6 to 6 instead of a 2 to 10, but with only 12 coin flips I have gotten more skewed results. Oh, and MY DAD HAS A FREAKING SISTER!
To recap:
MY DAD HAS A FREAKING SISTER!
Now comes the fight with my mom about equal treatment of all the grandkids
Other than my dad’s completely stunned reaction, he is overjoyed and ecstatic
Of my parents, I would not have picked him for the most appropriate response
Cabinets come on Friday
Appliances come on Friday
Countertop is ready for pickup
I guess our new kitchen will have to be the working kitchen come Saturday
20 questions tomorrow about having a daughter
On Friday of last week we found out that we will be having a stubborn little girl come June of this year. “Why stubborn?” you ask? Well, dear reader, it seems that this little one even with much ungentle coaxing never uncrossed her ankles nor straightened her legs. If it had not become a battle of wills between her and the Dr performing the ultrasound, we probably would not have found out the gender of the baby to be. Plus, I am stubborn and Wifey is stubborn. The chances that any child of ours not being stubborn are fairly high bordering on inevitable. Oh, for those of you who did not know, we are having a little girl. We found out on Friday.
Friday night we had the task of letting family know the joyous news. Wifey’s family was all “Oh, another one, big deal.” I kid, I kid, they were very excited. When telling my family the response was a bit different. I started off by just telling my dad because mom wasn’t home when I called.
Me: Well, we had our tour of the baby ultrasound today. Ten fingers. Ten toes. Umbilical chord where it is supposed to be with the correct number of arteries and veins. Internal organs are internal. Has a bladder. No discernable cleft palette. Stomach seems to be working. Oh, and you will be having a granddaughter.
My Dad: ** Stunned silence**
Me: Dad, we are having a little girl.
My Dad: ummm… a girl… **stunned**
Honestly I could not have stunned the man more if I had hit him in the head with a ball-peen hammer. It took him about 30 seconds to really recover, but then he was amazingly excited.
Me: Well, Mom, we are having a little girl.
My Mom: Well, if anyone was going to go against family tradition it would be you. There hasn’t been a girl born in forever.
Me: Mom, I don’t believe any of that hogwash, plus, Dad has a sister. Her name is Nancy. She is only one generation away from me, and she is in yours.
My Mom: She was the first daughter that the family has had since before William the Conqueror.
Me: I soooo don’t believe that. William the Conqueror had daughters, plus I doubt if we are directly related to him anyway.
My Mom: No, it’s true, I have the family tree. I will show you!
Me: Fine, bring it, I would love to see it.
So there it is, the legend of the Family: There has not been a daughter born to the family since before William the Conqueror. There are clearly holes in this fable. Firstly, I honestly doubt any direct lineage to Big Willy. If we were directly related to Willy Le Bâtard, and there were no daughters associated with that line, our last name would not be Hart, it would be Angevin or some such surname legacy of nobility/royalty surname.
Secondly, MY DAD HAS A FREAKIN SISTER! No to mention historically speaking (relatively recent historical sense surely) the family hasn’t generated very many kids. My brother has 2 kids. I will have 2 kids come June. My grandpa on my dad’s side only had one brother and each of them only had 2 kids. That is not exactly a gigantic statistical sample to pull from. In 12 kids there will only be 2 girls born in 4 generations. Sure one would expect more of a 5 to 7 or 6 to 6 instead of a 2 to 10, but with only 12 coin flips I have gotten more skewed results. Oh, and MY DAD HAS A FREAKING SISTER!
To recap:
MY DAD HAS A FREAKING SISTER!
Now comes the fight with my mom about equal treatment of all the grandkids
Other than my dad’s completely stunned reaction, he is overjoyed and ecstatic
Of my parents, I would not have picked him for the most appropriate response
Cabinets come on Friday
Appliances come on Friday
Countertop is ready for pickup
I guess our new kitchen will have to be the working kitchen come Saturday
20 questions tomorrow about having a daughter