Parallels

I was looking forward to my Saturday date. I was actually a bit nervous. It was my first time asking a boy out. I consulted friends who knew him to see whether he would accept the date. I even asked my family for their opinion. They all thought he'd say yes. I asked him on Wednesday when he casually said sure.... The plan was to go to the museum on Saturday. There was an exhibit. Thursday and Friday crawled by. I was so nervous, worried whether the date would go well. But I was looking forward to spending some time with him.

So here we were Saturday morning, and I was frantic and fretting over what to wear. He was cute but also smart and opinionated (who likes a pushover?) but he was a midget and a little too young for anything but a wonderful platonic relationship. He was 7 and an adorable kid.

It was a great day but for me it was exhausting. At the end of the day, after the child was safely back in the custody of his parents, I had to reconsider the thought about wanting to have children. How could I have my own if after barely 8 hours with one, I was so tired that I skipped dinner and went to bed? There would be no reprieve if I had my own, no pause button. I would have to be on stand-by a full 24hours, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year and that for at least 18 years. Considering that I wanted four boys, well, oye ve! I think I spelt out a punishment for myself.