I have been doing so much research about triplets since we found out there are three babies. I feel sometimes like I’m writing a term paper instead of having babies…only this is definitely more fun than a term paper! I’m thinking I may actually do something like that this fall while I’m laid up, though, because there don’t seem to be any books on the market at all about triplets.
Brian wants to set up a betting pool for sexes. I’m guessing all boys, but I hope I’m wrong; I want at least one girl. My grandmother says I’d better have at least one girl. There haven’t been any girls in the family since me, and she wants another girl baby to dress up.
We’ve discussed circumcision if we do have boys, and we’ve decided against it. I can understand that some people are offended by the term “genital mutilation,” so I’ll try not to use it. But it is hard to think of a better term. Ritual disfigurement sure doesn’t work! Anyway, I don’t have a problem with people who do it for religious reasons, and I commend parents who use anesthesia so their babies are spared some of the discomfort. However, not being religiously bound to go either way with this, I think of circumcision in the same category as other body changes done ritually and commonly in other cultures: ear piercing (that almost is a ritual in America), nose piercing, lip piercing, tooth filing, tattooing, and there are certain Native American practices that I don’t have names for and don’t want to describe here. To me, every last one of these is purely decorative. There seem to be just as many doctors for circumcision as against it, and there really is no hard evidence that either way is better.
As far as the sex issue and standing out goes, I’m not concerned about it. A lot more people these days are turning against circumcision; there are even a few militant anti-circumcision groups out in California! (land of granola….) With this trend, if I do not circumcize my son(s), I don’t feel they will be all that singled out when they get older; I have a feeling they will have plenty of company. Because of this, I don’t think girls then will have the same attitudes towards uncircumcised penises that many seem to today. So, in short, I do not plan to circumcize any sons I may have.