Gayby’s First Christmas
For my wife and I, it is our first Christmas as parents. It will probably also be one of the only Christmases for many years where it doesn’t matter what is under the Christmas tree. As of yesterday, our son Oscar Rocket is 11 weeks old, and luckily, 11-week-old babies are very hard for toy companies to market to.
I have noticed, through our family’s first holiday season, I feel this (probably imaginary) pressure as a lesbian parent to prove to the outside world just how “normal” our family is.
But let’s just jump back for a minute so I can explain something to you. I have always loved Christmas. I turn on the Christmas music as soon as I wake up from my turkey-induced Thanksgiving coma. My wife is no different. We bought a tree from the Boy Scouts, and danced around to Christmas music as we put up the tree, and the lights, and the ornaments, and the stockings, and the…
…you get the picture. We’re actually a little bit ridiculous (but at least we admit it).
So back to proving that my family is “normal”… I’m not quite sure why I have the need to do this. I have always been one to create my own traditions and shirk the expectations of the outside world. I guess, since Oscar was born, I have just been hyper aware that my family will probably be put under the microscope as an example of gay parenting.
People often ask us if we’re going to do something traditional, like take Oscar to see Santa. And while, yes, we are lesbian parents, and yes, there are some things about our family that just will never be traditional, we are still a family who loves Christmas. So you better believe we brought him to meet Santa. Because we, as parents, believe that there’s nothing wrong in a kid believing in Santa Claus. In a way, bringing him to meet Santa made me feel defiant, like “Yeah, I’m a lesbian mom bringing my baby to meet Santa… got a problem with that?”
And hoo boy… have you seen that cute photo up there? Oh my lord. The cuteness is so overwhelming, it makes me want to spit out a barrage of profanities to counteract the cuteness. See, when we got to the front of the line to meet Santa, Oscar was strapped to my chest and fast asleep. Santa thought maybe it would be a good photo to have him sleeping on Santa’s chest, and as we transferred Oscar to Santa, he woke up just enough to crack a teeny tiny smile. The people waiting in line behind us all broke into a chorus of “Awwww” because you just couldn’t not “Awwww” at the sight of it. Even Santa got a little misty. Nauseatingly cute.
We were hoping for a screaming, red-faced picture with Santa, but I guess the world’s most adorable photo will do.
Merry Christmas, Just Out readers… from the world’s cutest baby (and his lesbian moms) to you.
And here’s a holiday message from MoveOn.org:
This year, over 18 million people saw Zach Wahls defend marriage equality on behalf of his family in front of the Iowa Legislature.
This month, thousands of families submitted photos, joining Zach and his family in sending out this simple holiday greeting…..and creating this video and online campaign called “Love Makes a Family.” See more of the photos here: http://lovemakesafamily.tumblr.com/
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Congratulations! And merry & happy to you and yours ♥