Pink vs. Blue

I am throwing a baby shower this weekend for a friend who is having a girl. What this means is that I have an excuse to buy everything in pink. Pink invitations, pink frosting, pink decorations, pink flowers, pink favors and pink napkins. I am even planning to dye some pink Easter eggs. (For the record: I highly recommend throwing baby showers near Easter time when everything in the stores is the perfect shade of Baby Shower.) I am really enjoying this opportunity to indulge my inner 6 year-old girl.

Now, I realize that Baby Girl does not automatically equal Pink. I just happen to like pink. And since I have a boy, I don't get to have pink terribly often. I'm not necessarily against pink for little boys -- he does have a very pink squishy baby doll -- but it's not like I have any reason to peruse the frilly dress rack.

SOMETIMES, however, it'd be fun to look through those frilly dresses. And while we're on the subject, any mom of a little boy will tell you how skimpy the boys' clothes section is compared to the little girls' section. There are heaps of dresses and bonnets and sweaters and pink bunny ears in the girls' section right now, but the boys have one rack of khaki pants. Ho hum. Jack is growing out of all the cute stuff his grandparents and aunts bought him for Christmas, so I've been looking at 12-18 month clothes, all of which are covered in dinosaurs and trucks and monkeys and airplanes and shovels. I usually end up putting them back on the shelf. I'm just not quite ready for t-shirts splattered with cartoon bugs.

People assume I must be hoping this new baby is a girl. I've already got the boy, right? And it's true, we'd love to have a girl. Think of all the frilly dresses I could buy! Hair bows! Pink pajamas! Those tights with the little mary jane feet! But actually, I'm pretty ambivalent. Sure, I'd be all over the ruffles, but another boy sounds just as fun. As excited as I get about those little felt hair clip thingies all over Etsy, I get pretty misty-eyed over the thought of my two boys racing their bikes and competing for the farthest jump off the swing set.

I have a handful of nephews and I think I know what to expect with a boy. Pretty soon we'll be buying plastic dump trucks and toy boats for the bathtub. We'll pause at construction sites on our walks to the lake to admire the bulldozers and the cement trucks. He'll be excited to watch for the commuter train his dad takes once a week. A fire truck blazing down the street will be cause for extreme excitement. Our living room will soon be a disaster zone, sprinkled with a fine layer of Lego blocks. Sounds good to me. My mom never tires of complaining that I never played with dolls when I was little anyway. I can totally see myself baking cookies for the football team and going to battle against grass stains.

So I don't know if I'd rather have a boy or a girl. What a pointless "decision" anyway! You get what you get.  But I'm totally ignoring all those people who think you should wait and be surprised -- WE ARE FINDING OUT. If it turns out I have a reason to buy teeny tiny outfits smothered in ribbons and lace, you can bet I'll want to get a head start!