Notes on a Scandalous Life

Since letting the fetus out of the bag and telling the world that I'm pregnant, I've had a few people approach me and say "I'm really surprised that you're keeping the baby. I thought you were pro-choice!" It's a legitimate question - I am very vocal in my support of women's reproductive rights, and I absolutely think that having a child is a big step that far too many young parents aren't ready to take. Not to say that I'm necessarily ready (Is anyone really ever ready for that kind of responsibility? It's pretty heavy, man.), and I definitely considered my options when I first found out that I was pregnant. But, since I've decided to be a parent, let's cut the whining, and just buy me some baby stuff, k?

While we're here, let me answer some more questions, just so everyone's minds can be at-ease.

Q: Are you going to be a stay-at-home-mommy SQUEEEEALLL?!?!
A: I would rather chew my right arm off. While I intend to care for my own child while I'm not at work or school (I still work full-time, and am signed up for the GRE in July, so I'm slated to go to grad school in the fall.), I don't intend to abandon everything I've worked hard for in order to narrow my life's work to an attempt to control my child's future by spending every possible second with it. I can pay somebody else to do that, because I have a job.

Q: Are you getting married?
A: I think people tend to misinterpret my lack of desire to get married as a lack of desire to commit myself to my partner. This isn't it, at all - I just don't feel the need to obtain a piece of paper in order to legitimize our relationship for everybody else. Plus, I'm not about to try to squeeze into a wedding dress right now.

Q: When are you going to trade in your Camaro for a 4-door mommy-mobile?
A: When I decide to, if I decide to, and not a second sooner. I know lots of people who haul their kids around in a two-door car, and, although this probably has more to do with lack of access to a four-door car than refusal to give up driving a fast car, they seem like they're still surviving.

Q: Are you having a natural birth? The pain is SOOO much fun!
A: Hell, no.

Q: Why even bother having a baby if you aren't going to bring it into an uber-sterile environment controlled only by you?
A: Hillary Clinton said it takes a village, and I'm a liberal, remember?