Nature or Nurture?

The cheap plastic baby doll had been sitting in the corner of her room with the rest of the crowd. A couple of teddy bears, the purple dinosaur, the karate chopping tiger, a mini skirt wearing and midriff showing doll (which is now on it's way to a thrift store thank you very much), and the top of the line organic fair trade environmentally friendly cute as a button bunny rabbit.

Baby doll sat there unnoticed for months. Then one day Esmé walked by, took a look, exclaimed "beebee!" and snatched it up. Now Esmé has become the mother, and she takes her job very seriously. The baby gets fed, gets her diaper changed, her teeth brushed, hugged, kissed, and then put to bed.

I've heard many parents tell of their boys being obsessed with cars and their girls with dolls, but is it really just because she is a girl? What if I had never bought her a doll, never pointed out and gushed over babies in strollers? What if I loved cars and tools myself and pointed those out instead? What if little boys were bought dolls and were encouraged to nurture them? Maybe it's a little of both, I don't know.

Oh yes, and the organic bunny? It's still in the corner, hoping that one day his turn will come.

My Second Job

It is with mixed feelings that I began my first shift back at work. I feel like I am now a mother first and a paramedic second (or third or fourth). But I do love my job and it was invigorating to be back, using my brain again, talking to grown ups again, and venturing out into the world again.

I am one of the few who is blessed with the option of working very part time until I am ready to take on more. So until then, I am mostly at home with the little girl who tires me out more than working the night shifts, who stresses me out more than the lights and sirens, and who has taught me more than any book or job or career or person ever has.

I am a mother. And then I am a paramedic.