Jackie Thomas: babies

No...Not Chicken Babies (those are called chicks)...but...chickens and babies. I'll explain.

So, I've been having these baby pangs. Not exactly like I really want another baby, but more along the lines of "wouldn't it be nice to hold a baby and feed a baby and snuggle with a baby". It's been almost 6 years since I had a baby and although I've told multiples of people that I am DONE and don't want another one...there is that teeny-tiny little feeling that I have had in the last few months of...

what if....

Well...okay...lets start with the fact that I'm not worth a hoot the first few weeks after having a baby or the preceding 9 months for that matter. I don't pop them out and then go shopping at the mall 4 days later. I wish...but that's not me. Then, there is that pesky little Post-Partum depression I had the first time around and it could come back again. Don't. Want. To. Go. There. Again. NO THANK YOU!

I'm 43!

I don't have to pay for daycare/preschool anymore. I admit it, I like the little bit of freedom I have now that the boys that are 5 and 11 years old. They can fix their own drinks/snacks and bowls of cereal, go to the bathroom on their own and they will play in the backyard for hours some days.

I'm 43!

It's decided. No more babies! Unless, like Michelle Duggar says, "we'll take another one if God chooses to give us one". I don't have a camera crew OR the income that probably comes along with having a camera crew, so it's not a good idea for the reasons above and many more.

That brings me to the chickens! So I sez to myself, "Maybe I should get me some chickens"! (insert twang here)

You might be asking yourself about this time..."How in the world would getting some chickens help with those baby pangs?" "And doesn't your profile say that you live in a suburban college town?"

Let's start with the suburban college town part. Did you know that we can have chickens LEGALLY in our yards now? They passed a real ordinance about this and everything. For Realz! (For the record, I don't ever really say For Realz but it seemed appropriate here). Anyway, YES, we can have chickens and a coop in our yards, but NO Roosters. Now, before I go any further with this, wasn't it just a few years ago that if you lived in town and you had chickens in your yard that people would...TALK...and in not such a nice way I might add? Okay, maybe that was just in a movie or something.

Moving on...am I making any sense here because I'm not even sure where I'm going with this? Hang with me, I'm sure I have a point here somewhere. Yes, my point is that we live in this progressive community that thinks it's really cool for us to have urban gardens, buy local produce and meats (we have a great Farmer's Market), and even...Chickens In The Yard! You know, that whole sustainable living thing. And you know what? I think it's cool too! There...whew...it took a long time to get to that point...I apologize.

Babies? Chickens? It turns out that what I really want is something small and cuddly to nurture from the infant stage and to watch it grow. I'm thinking Chickens might be the answer. Don't You? I don't think I'm exactly the Chicken Snuggling kind of gal like Jayme The Coop Keeper is, but I DO think it would be a LOT of fun and some of those coops are super cute! Hmmmm, It might be a lot of work though. I'll keep looking at coop pictures and reading chicken blogs and we'll just see what happens. My guess is that we'll actually just end up getting a puppy, but you never know...stay tuned...