give a little, take a lot

N. and I discovered long ago that we are not good at making adult compromises.  I use up a shocking amount of my "ability to play well with others" in the work environment.  N. is a very stubborn individual, cut from a no-nonsense Midwestern cloth. Neither one of us were team athletes, so there goes that lesson.  Ultimately, in the past when we have tried to maturely come to a consensus... we each feel like we have lost and slink away to our respective corners of the house to suck our teeth and say snide things under our breath.  I know... tres grownup. But like I have always said, we prolly should not be raising children.

In order to maintain some semblance of happiness her at casa t'pon, we have developed two systems that aid us in the decision making process.  The first is very straight-forward -- ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS. You can not argue with its simplicity.  You can not argue with the results, it is nearly impossible (unless one party is drunk out of their mind) to get a true strategic edge, but you feel that you have more control than a simple roll of the dice.  It works nearly every single time -- flawlessly. 

In an attempt to solve another household dilemma we went to our second system, which we call "IF, THEN"... IF you want this, THEN I get this.  I like to think of this as a way for us to evaluate how much we REALLY want the thing we are fighting for...  and ultimately, everyone feels like they are winning something...  OK, not so much the way reasonable, well-adjusted adults might act, but it works for us.

So, our most recent dilemma.  Will we find out Banzo's sex?  Bean was a mystery and I loved every minute of not knowing...  as I have said before N. considered it a particular brand of torture that should be reserved only for the worst kind of person.  We had originally planned to "R-P-S"this one out...  but instead, I offered the option.  IF N. really wants to know what we are having, I can deal with it...  I guess that have had my surprise.  But THEN, I would like to have exclusive naming rights for the Banzo Bean.  That is right!  Bold move, I know. I want to be able to pick the name for this kid sans input, sans opinion. And just to make sure that I don't get evil spam... N. is more than welcome to make suggestions and turn his nose up at my short list, I just don't have to listen. Honestly, the discussion and give and take for the last round of name selection was about all I could take.  For someone who pretends to care so little about names, N. certainly had A LOT of opinions and precious little constructive to add to the discussion.

So, it looks like I will have a sex to share.  Which leaves you folks only 5 weeks to place your bets. I will tell you that if we go by heart rate, N. will be pleased to not have to pay for a wedding. Anyone got a good feeling out there...

Comments

[stefanierj]

Man, you're good. I wouldn't have thought of such a good stakes-raising IF THEN.

Just remind me not to get into a pissing match with you! LOL.

[Painterbeachgirl]

I didnt know the sex of #1 and I didnt realize until I knew the sex of #2 how much better it was to not know...because when people (everyone) asked with #1 if I knew if it were a boy or girl, I just could say "no" and that was the end of the conversation...with #2, I would say "yeah, another girl" and then have to go through the entire regime about having girls and how great or how hard it is or how terrific having two daughters will be so they can be best girlfriends, etc. It was repeat conversation after repeat conversation. So it was better to just say "no" even if I knew. It was easier NOT to know!

[VeeDub]

I'm going to have to call your bluff on the athletic teams. I think being a college level cheerleader totally counts.

Genius move, my dear. Bordering on evil genius. Have you considered the name Rudy Ray?

[test]

test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test

[yogamama]

PLEASE can I vote for you? Because I am really appreciating this. But hey, don't want to ruin your Susan Lucci streak . . .
We had the opposite disagreement -- I wanted to know our baby's sex, he didn't. Finally we decided if we could see for ourselves, we would find out. In our minds that meant, if it's a boy, maybe we'll be able to tell. Wrong! When the ultrasound moved to the lower body, our modest little girl spread her legs apart and did a little flip so that we could see EVERYTHING. Surprising, but it felt like more of a compromise than rock-paper-scissors, at least for me. Then again, I got my way, so I might be a little biased.

[Holly]

Wow... I haven't been around in a long, long time (blogging lost its luster for me and I am just starting to venture back into it again)... and here you are pregnant!! Whoo Hoo! Congratulations!

I won't venture to guess, although having two boys, I can tell you that you really can't go wrong either way. One of each would be fun. But two of the same is really great too. Anyway, I found out both times, so I am with N in needing to know. It really is torture to have to wait...