Jordan was circumcised today. For those of you with sons, this may be all I need to say. But for my own sanity, I will record my thoughts:
I guess we will have to make tough decisions for Jordan our whole life. And today was the first. A simple medical procedure, without too much medical purpose. The societal impact is hard to ignore. The cultural impact is rather irrelevant for us. But the family impact was huge.
We both left the room when Dr. Jiwa (we love her!) did the procedure. We actually went to Caribou (I had a Mocha Cooler and Steph had a Wild Berry Smoothie [not as good as McDonald's she says]). It was heart-breaking to know that we made the decision to put him through that pain- albeit a momentary pain in the grand scheme of life. It was also the first time Steph was away from him; a momentary one, but one she will have to get used to eventually. Dr. Jiwa said he won't remember it, and we'll probably forget in a couple of weeks too. But it was really hard to make that choice for him.
The Dr and nurse said he did really well (which they probably always say). Hopefully, our son will always stay tough in these moments, because there will be many. Hopefully, we will stay tough in these moments, because there will be many. Hopefully, we can approach the tough times in life, the unpleasant and painful (emotional and physical) times with a deep perspective. Hopefully, Jordan will learn how to be tough (and we will teach him how to be tough) when times are tough.
Thought of the Moment: Empathy
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