Boys Will Be Boys

Those who have met my son will no doubt attest to his high energy level, loud voice and his inclination towards balls and vehicles. But few know that he almost didn't turn out this way.

You see, in June 2006, Derod and I took a holiday in the Maldives and in order to enjoy the unbelievably expensive trip, I had to ensure that absolutely no disruptions would take place whatsoever. This included preventing the arrival of my da yi ma, which was scheduled to arrive right in the middle of the trip. So, I visited my family doctor and he prescribed some hormones which will do just the trick. But it came with a warning: if I were pregnant, and I took the pills, and if the foetus was a girl, no issues. But if I were pregnant, and I took the pills, and if the foetus was a boy, then we should just have to accept that our son will be highly effeminate.

To cut the long story short, it came to a point that all signs pointed to the arrival of da yi ma but I had decided not to take the pills till the final moment, which never came. Then other queer signs started showing: half a glass of white wine got me spinning; I was so tired I slept at 10pm every night while on holiday; the return journey gave me the worst backache I've ever had. Then we discovered that gabe, in his then invisible form, was making his presence known.

It was right then that I knew that God had given us a son, for otherwise, those pills would have been popped without hesitation. Five months later, we got the confirmation at the detailed scan.

So today you see a wide-eyed gabe going absolutely bonkers when he sees the SBS bus (he can now say the "s" in "bus"), train ("aine" as it is known), cement mixer ("men"), and the like, crawling at great speeds towards anything he'd like to lay his hands on, and just being rough and rugged like boys are. And we thank God for our son.