My Most Embarrassing Moment

When my daughter was three years old, I moved with her to a college town to finish my bachelor's degree in psychology. As a single parent, I was eligible for an apartment in the school's family housing program. We moved into a two bedroom apartment on the outer edge of the campus.

There were many other children in the apartment complex, so my daughter had no shortage of playmates. In addition, she attended a local preschol center for part of each day, while I was in classes. Between our home and her preschool, she came in contact with many other children.

In time, she began to notice that many of the other children had brothers and sisters, while she was an only child. At home with me, she began to ask about having a little brother. Several of her friends in the neighborhood and at preschool had younger brothers and she became fixated on the subject as only a three-year-old can, bringing it up at least two or three times a week.

As a single parent who was raising a child, attending school, and working part time, the last thing on my mind was having more children! Watching her eyes light up and seeing that excited little face when my daughter talked about a baby brother, I couldn't simply say an outright "no". In an attempt both to satisfy her and put the question to rest temporarily, I began telling her that mommy was too busy with school at the time. We would talk about a lttle brother again after I graduated and got a full-time job. I tried to explain all this to her very carefully, but apparently my message was a little confusing to a three-year-old!

At least three or four times a week, my daughter talked on the phone with her grandparents (my parents). The day after we had discussed the baby brother issue and the importance of waiting until mommy had finished college, she was on the phone with my father. She sat at the bar while I made dinner in the kitchen.

She and her grandfather were having one of their usual chats about preschool, Sesame Street, puppies, and everything else that a three-year-old finds to talk about her grandfather. Listening with only half an ear, I suddenly heard the following from my daughter: "Guess what?" she was telling my father, with great delight. "Soon, I'm gonna be a big sister!"

From two hundred miles away, I could hear my dad's jaw drop at the news that his single parent daughter was pregnant again! In a panic, and with my face flushing, I quickly grabbed the phone and explained to dad about the baby brother requests and that this was all merely wishful thinking on the part of his granddaughter.

He took it very good-naturedly, but I noticed that he looked at me very closely during my visits home over the next few months! I don't think I've ever been so embarrassed in front of my father!