“Did you know that Pumpkin Patch is having a sale? “
Noooo. I love that place so I never go there. I just spend too much.”
“I know what you mean. They grow out of things so fast. We’re trying to sell the cot? Do you want another cot?”
And so the conversation went.
It took my son to visit from Sydney to remark on the new bent of conversation between his two brothers.
In those years BC (before children) the same boys would have been talking sport, or bands or big boofie boy television shows. Now, the closest they get to a masculine conversation is the fact that they think this might be a Paw Patrol Christmas.
I’ve got used to it. I didn’t even crack a smile when my daughter in law told me how exciting it would be when her daughter starts Prep in 2017 and she can clean the house in the day time.
I looked over at my boys and felt slightly heartened that they didn’t latch onto that as a new conversation. And all of this despite the fact that my son’s wish list included a Dyson vacume cleaner and yes, according to him, even without a pet, it is still worth getting the one with the extra suction for the pet hair.
They hadn’t joined in with that conversation because instead they were discussing baby car seats. The chat moved on to flying with children and how it is best to catch a later plane for the longest leg so the babies can sleep.
How did I not only raise such wonderful hands-on fathers, but how did I do it without knowing all this stuff myself? I certainly didn’t know the intricacies of the car seat (let’s face it, these boys came home from hospital in a strapped in basket with a bit of netting over the top and the car was driven with fingers crossed on both hands).
And in order to make mine little trend setters, I tie died a great many items of clothing. (This had the added effect of covering up food stains.) There wasn’t a lot of exclusive baby wear shopping for these magnificent men.
I sat on the couch and let the animation of the family I adore flow over me. The girls were talking Disney princesses, but my boys had moved onto talking about German brands of beer. All is well.