Congratulations on the new addition!
This was a post I wrote for our website, so the rest of it is elsewhere online. I think my husband @ironshield put this up for me today - I was surprised to find I'd put up a new post -grin-.
The biggest thing I've been thinking over has really been considering the different "jobs" men and women have generally and considering what if anything needs to be done different in teaching Daniel than in the girls. There are a lot of cliches about the differences between men and women, but I find a lot of them are really shallow and don't really help a lot when it comes to helping the actual character of our children to grow. I'm really not finding there is a "boys will be boys" characteristic in Daniel just as I hadn't really noticed "girls will be girls" in my girls. I see character strengths and weaknesses in all of them that are unique to them, but the overall picture I've been pondering is the different underlying mission God gave to men and women. Its definitely different for each, but drilling down to the core of that difference seems like it might be especially important in this confused age.
Based on my conversations with @ironshield, it seems like our faiths stories are similar and they guide how we live life.
One thing I keep telling my girls is that they need to find a man who loves Jesus and is ready to lead a family. I will be telling Baby #6 (due in October) that he needs to be a man who loves Jesus and someday needs to be ready to lead a family of his own. And most importantly direct them to the author and perfector of our faith.
All of our kiddos are uniquely made - both strengths and weaknesses. It is a privilege to guide them and watch them live life as they learn.
Woohoo, a #6! You are a blessed man!
Is this the first boy?
I agree: it is a unique privilege to be given the task of helping the little people here become good men and women.
Yes, this will be our first boy.
WOW, that's going to be a big change!
Just an interesting tidbit ahead of time: changing diapers is really only tricky the first week. You will get wet on. After that, it's no longer a big deal - I don't know if he got used to being changed or what, but the horror stories of boys' diaper changes turn out to be overrated. -grin-