Helaine’s Blog

The Stork

February 13th, 2008

When my younger son was born, my curious 3 1/2 year old firstborn asked where his new brother came from. I am embarrassed to report that I lied, informing him that there was this kind of bird known as a stork, and he was responsible for all babies. Not only did the stork put his younger brother in my tummy for safekeeping, I said, but he also escorted me to the hospital when it was time for for the baby to leave my body and meet the world. This story was so good that I had the giggle-inducing pleasure of hearing my older son repeat it to numerous playmates and I am sure that to this day there is at least one seven or eight year old child in the NYC metropolitan area who still believes this charming tale.

But time marches on and one day someone was able to convince me that I was doing my son a disservice by allowing to inform his pals that the stork was responsible for all the infants in our midst. So I sat my older boy down and told him that mommies and daddies made babies by giving one another “a special hug.” I added — because it seemed like a good idea — that these mommies and daddies had to be married for the hug to work. My son had no problem with this version of the birth story and, over time, he figured out (probably, I am guessing, from his fellow schoolmates) that what are euphemistically known in my house as “the private parts” were involved in the process. All well and good.

But since we have also lived in fairly liberal communities for the entirety of my older son’s life, every school he has attended has featured children who have parents of the same sex. Not surprisingly, he has also asked about this. The first time it came up,  I informed him that most children have a mom and dad, but some get two moms and some get two dads and that’s how it goes. He totally accepted this — till today.

My son marched into my office at around 6 p.m. and informed me that since he now knows where babies come from, he would like to know how a friend of his with two moms possibly came into this world, because everyone knows that two moms do not have the physical, um, attributes necessary to make a baby together. I informed him that it was late, mommy had a cold, and the answer was so complicated I’d rather take it on when I didn’t have a fever. I then distracted him by offering him pasta for dinner.

I’m now taking suggestions on how to answer this one.