Thursday, April 7, 2011

Jonah's Thoughts on Birth

I just had an interesting little exchange with Jonah.  Out of the blue, he said to me, "Mom, I'm so glad you stayed home when Evan was born.  You didn't go to the hospital, and that's just so good.  And you'll stay home this time, too.  I'm so glad."

I asked him why he felt this way.  "Just... because.  It's good."  was all he could express.

So I thought about it while I finished loading the dishwasher.  The only thing he knows of doctors and hospitals is that I went to one and had surgery when I had appendicitis.  He was four and, while he was well taken care of, it was traumatic for him to be gone from me for nearly three days, knowing that I was sick and at this mysterious "hospital" place.  So it makes sense that he is afraid of having me go to a hospital.

It occurred to me that this is a very logical conclusion, even for an almost-6-year-old.  He knows that people go to hospitals when they're very sick or hurt and the situations are dangerous.  He's heard that some people go to hospitals to have babies, and to him, the two situations just don't mesh.

3 comments:

  1. Wow! How profound for one so young. My heart aches to be closer to you guys when you post things like that. Thank you, Katie!

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  2. Teaching them how to think... rather than 2+2 or see dick run or food pyramids.... SO worth it! The rest comes when it does whether now or later. I love those precious moments of little kid reflection... you have the advantage of only having one so that you notice and ponder things on this level more :)

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