I am not a Man...

(Jacob Post)

Dear unborn child,

If you are an unborn son, I apologize ahead of time.  Your dad is not a man.

Most of the people in my life have already realized this by my soft hands, love for cooking, and complete ignorance around anything mechanical (particularly manly things like cars).  However, a recent event has made me realize just how much this is true.

• There is a perfectly good weedeater at our rental house that I cannot get started.  I called my dad and he gave me perfectly good advice on how to get it started.  I was intimidated so I proceeded to hand cut all weeds with a hoe instead of attempting to fix the weedeater.  I am not a man
• During this process, I came across a giant* snake in our back yard about an inch from my hand.  After about 15 minutes of practicing Stacey's labor breathing to calm myself down, I had an internal argument of whether I should kill it or try to capture it and set it free.  I am not a man
• Finally, my fear of snakes outweighed my love for nature so I decided the snake had lived a long, eventful life and it was ok for me to end it.  Then came the decision on how to kill it.  Somehow hacking at it with a hoe seemed a lot more manly in my head than how it turned out in real life...eyes closed, squealing, happy feet...I am not a man

So, dear son (if you are a son), we will need to proactively find ways for you to learn the things that will make you more manly than your father....Shop class, camping trips, trips to Home Depot, and a lot of sleepovers at your cousin Rhone's house.

Unborn child, if you are a daughter, we are going to be besties!

*Giant to me is any snake that is actually alive and not rubber, regardless of size.