i don't know where that phrase originated.
But, we all know some babies to whom it applies - the ones who snuck along 6 or 7... or more years after their siblings. The ones who brought back the diapers and cradles when their brothers and sisters were already in school. The ones who remember their siblings as sort of make-shift mama's in a world over run with big people.
i remember once, my parents talking about so-and-so's 'afterthought baby', and i asked them what they meant. They explained to me that they were suggesting the baby was a surprise; one who came when the couple thought they were done - they meant that the child was simply... an after thought.
i recall thinking it was a painfully romantic idea... In my childish mind, i pictured that these lucky couples were the kind that threw caution to the wind, laughed in the face of vigilance and lived life with a swagger. i imagined them swooning over their imprudence, chuckling in the dark as they lay in bed waiting for sleep to come at the world that was so shocked with their indiscretion.
i envisioned them - smitten with the tiny reminder of their social faux pas - fiercely protective of the life they never anticipated, and eternally grateful for the one who might never have been.
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2 comments:
My parents had an "afterthought" baby. My older brothers were 16 and 13, and I was 11 when my embarrassed mom and dad announced that they were expecting a baby. My oldest brother was also embarrassed when my very pregnant mom came to his highschool to pick him up and take him for his driver's license test.
However, after Janet was born, she became a delight to all of us! I was the envy of all of my friends to be so lucky as to have a baby sister to love and look after.
My parents wondered what they ever would have done without having Janet around, after the rest of us had all left home, to keep them young and active.
She may have been an afterthought to my parents, but certainly wasn't a mistake or afterthought to God. He knew what was best for our family!
carol, i love stories like this :) Thanks for sharing. i don't know why "afterthought babies" were on my mind - but they just were. Makes me smile.
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