preparation

I had some bitchy, snarky things to say, some complaints to make which have been welling up inside of me. I have been pretty irritable and it doesn’t take much to set me off these days. But while I was sitting on the couch, watching tv, Steve came and sat down, holding the free American Baby magazine that came in the mail today.

He ripped out an ad for a Boppy and passed it to me, exclaiming how cool this thing looked. I told him I knew what a Boppy was and of course we would get one. Then he passed me an article about the seven types of annoying people to pregnant women, all seven of which I am very aware of and encounter every day. He told me I could subscribe to weekly emails which explained how the baby was developing inside of me. I told him I am already subscribed, but he should download the free app on his iTouch.

It made me smile to see him so interested in the next phase, trying to prepare. I am always unprepared (but I prefer the word “spontaneous”): I give speeches at work without index cards. I throw a few shirts in the suitcase twenty minutes before we leave for a trip. I moved halfway across the country without having a job or an apartment lined up. Steve is my opposite. He remembers to bring the cell phone charger on trips and worries about circumstances that may never happen and reads reviews before buying any product.

We balance each other out. So while I don’t know if either of us will be good at this whole parenting thing individually, as a team, I think we will manage. He will cram for parenting over the next six months, and I’ll hope I learn it as it happens. And one way or another, we will.