Goodnight, You Moonlight Ladies

This morning, the girl suggested to the boy and myself that she would enjoy having a baby brother. We asked her if she knew what exactly was entailed in having a new baby in the house, and she said "yeah, well, you have to feed it."

And...

"And you give it time to sleep."

And...

The boy reminded her about the diaper changing and the late nights and sharing everything, and she still seemed pretty insistent at the thought. I played along a bit, goading the boy. "Well, you know...I'll be 31, and I'm not working so we wouldn't have child care issues...and we're living pretty cheap right now...we could time it around finals..."

His answer: "Are you seriously considering the family planning suggestions of a five year old?"

Me: "No, not really. We'll maintain the policy position: whatever happens happens."

And in a way, I get it - we're a lovely little threesome, complete as can be and thoroughly content. Sometimes though, I wonder if we'll have more kids. I am absolutely satisfied with just the girl, but part of me wonders what another child of ours might look like, might act like. How would I be different as a parent at age 31-32 than I was at 25?

Would I be heartbroken if we never had any more kids? How could I be? We're incredibly blessed. Then I hear an old James Taylor song, and my mind wanders to a place where I sit in my glider, breastfeeding a tiny cream-and-blue bundle, the girl watching me intently...and I quietly sing to both of them.

There is a young cowboy he lives on the range, his horse and his cattle are his only companions
He works in the saddle and he sleeps in the canyons, waiting for summer, his pastures to change

And as the moon rises he sits by his fire, thinking about women and glasses of beer
And closing his eyes as the doggies retire, he sings out a song which is soft but its clear
As if maybe someone could hear

Goodnight you moonlight ladies, rockabye sweet baby James
Deep greens and blues are the colors I choose, won't you let me go down in my dreams
And rockabye sweet baby James

Now the first of December was covered with snow
And so was the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston
Lord, the Berkshires seemed dream-like on account of that frosting
With ten miles behind me and ten thousand more to go

Theres a song that they sing when they take to the highway
A song that they sing when they take to the sea
A song that they sing of their home in the sky
Maybe you can believe it if it helps you to sleep
But singing works just fine for me

So goodnight you moonlight ladies, and rockabye sweet baby James
Deep greens and blues are the colors I choose, won't you let me go down in my dreams
And rockabye sweet baby James