Baby is a 3 letter word or is it?
Month of Love
Valentines means love!
February is the shortest month of the year with only 28 days (29 during a leap year). It is wintertime in the Northern Hemisphere and summertime in the Southern Hemisphere. It is the only month that might not have a full moon. According to many people, February is best known for St. Valentines, love and cupid.
As a husband, there are few holidays that are as imperative as Valentines, e.g., anniversary’s, birthdays and Christmas (not necessarily in that order)! Any partner knows that forgetting one of these very critical events will earn you sleeping rights to the couch and the likely hood that “sex” will not happen in the near future. Yes, on a parenting blog of all places I said the little three-letter word that makes a baby, “sex!”
Year of the Baby
According to the * New York Times the most popular day of the year in the United States for births is September 16th. As a father, I am not a math whiz, but I can count backwards nine months, and I know how many families were celebrating the new year! It makes me wonder if anyone is planning on telling their children there “might” have been alcohol involved??? (and no I do not drink).
I actually can understand that people want to celebrate around the holidays. It even makes sense to me that a baby is born 9 months after New Years. In fact, it makes as much sense to me that a baby is born nine months after Valentines Day. Right?
Wrong!
According to MyMonthlyCycles.com, a baby conceived on Valentine’s Day should have a due date of November 7th. November 7th is the 236th most popular day to have a child in the United States. In fact, there is not one day in the entire month of November that is in the top 100.
Baby or Bust
Making a baby can be fun!
If Valentine’s is the day of love I thought it would correlate to children being born 9 months later, but statistics proof differently(I still tend to believe that November should at least break into the top 100)!
The question remains what does it mean for all men or partners trying to decipher this “mystical” holiday
1. Commercialized - Valentines is no longer important. It has been overly commercialized and no one actually pays any attention to it.
2. Pregnancy - All women are already pregnant and sex is now taboo.
3. Gifts - Valentines is still important but only about the gifts and no one is having that three little letter word!
I think statistics leave us with more questions than answers.
Are we too tired?
Do we not care?
Is it all about the gifts?
I do not have the answers, but I can tell you that I am planning on doing the right things this Valentines. I will continue to use the old “tried, but true” routines of flowers, candy or dinner and I will not sleep on the couch!
As a parent, we sometimes have to discuss things that are a little out of our comfort zone. I try to keep my site very family friendly, but I am not afraid to talk about tough issues or “taboo” subjects if there is relevance to them and I feel that love (or sex) is very relevant to fatherhood and family. If we never had that little three-letter word, we would never have anything to talk about.
How do you feel about Valentines? Do you feel it has become overly commercialized? Did the statistics on births surprise you as much as they did me? Tell me more in the comments!
You can read my last post here: Substance Abuse and Families : If you like this post you can follow me on twitter @dadblunders or on my facebook fan page, Dadblunders.
* Source : Amitabh Chandra, Harvard University
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Tags: having a baby, new york times, st valentines
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This is really a cute post, Aaron. The eternal question of how and how much and when to tell the kids that the whole stork thing is hilarious. The whole, entire sex talk I got from either one of my parents came from my father and was this: “you know, I have a penis.” He then thought for a moment, and said, “Ask your mother.” I remember thinking, “Oh. Hell. No.” I already knew what went where and didn’t feel a need for any more of her psychosis; I’m sure it would have been something. Anyway, it’s definitely one of the harder things to do as a parent, but it’s a rite of passage!
Mary,
A rite of passage that I am not sure I will ever have to tell my little Casanova. He seems a little to “hip” on learning about the birds and the bees already (and dang it hes only 4) He better not make me a grandparent before I am at least in my 60′s or I swear i will kill him!!! grrrrr
Aaron Brinker aka Dadblunders
I had to quickly do my calculations to check if my kids where the results of doing the right thing on Valentines day. Looks like I have been sleeping on the couch on this special day.
Now that you have reminded me that Valentines is around the corner, I hope I won’t forget the flowers.
Where I come from, it’s the Uncle and Aunt’s duty to talk to kids about sex, which makes it a little less embarrassing. I got great information and tips from my aunt, which I can’t write about here.
Thanks for the reminder Aaron.
Churchill,
WOW! The aunt and uncle tell you about sex? I learned something new! I didn’t know that was the custom…I guess that simplifies things a lot on the parents with their own children then…..
Try not to forget the flowers….that way you won’t b on the couch this year
Aaron Brinker aka Dadblunders
Hey Aaron
I do think Valentine’s Day has become over-commercialised like many other occasions but I should try and remember it this year!
No more babies for us though, 2 is definitely enough.
Tim,
The statistics actually surprised me on this! I really would have thought more babies would have been born nine months later but i guess not….lol….
Just shows me what does this dad know….yikes!
Aaron Brinker aka Dadblunders
Exacccctttlllyyyy… You should see how crazy people here in India get on Valentine’s day…. I seriously think it is way too hyped than it should be and overly commercialized.
Good luck, Aaron! Make it a great day!
Aditya
Aditya,
I think it is overly commercialized too. I also know that I won’t be “dumb” enough to not get something for my wife. It still is a day we use to represent love and it has a very long history.
Aaron Brinker aka DadBlunders
Every holiday — and even some occasions that have no business even jokingly referred to as “holidays” — is over-commercialized. But then it’s up to us how deeply we wish to tread into participating. (I’d recommend letting the females among us decide how deeply “we” wish to tread. That three-letter word might be more likely to happen that way…even on Valentine’s Day.)
But I am surprised that September 16th would be the peak for births. I would definitely have thought the peak would have coincided with Valentine’s!
Patrick,
The statistics surprised me as well. I would think that nine months after Valentines, would at least be in the top 100 (but what do I know).
I tend to agree with you that the best thing we can ever do in any relationship (with Valentines or any holiday) is let the female guide us in how deeply they want to make it. If we try to make it to meaningful they can tell us to back off. If we do not make it meaningful enough you could be on the couch. Communication is the key!
Aaron Brinker aka DadBlunders