PK FAQ

I've gotten enough of the same PK questions that it warrants an FAQ. So here I go...

1. Why do you refer to your baby as PK?
When the hubby and I first got married, we were completely adverse to having kids. As the years went on, our aversion faded, especially with the birth of our niece. We began talking about when we'd someday have a kid. It became a bit cumbersome to say, "If we have a kid someday", so we started talking about the Potential Kid, or PK. That made family planning conversations a bit easier, for example, "If PK comes along..." :)

Nowadays, friends and family keep asking us why we still refer to it as PK instead of AK (actual kid). Sorry, we're not changing it. Sure, it makes no logical sense - I'll give them that. We've always referred to it as PK, so it would just be weird to refer to it as anything else. That is, until PK is born. I think our kid will already have a bit of a complex knowing that PK sounds like an insult/swear in Cantonese. I wouldn't want the kid further having a complex because we call it PK after birth. Never fear. we'll be sure to refer to PK by its actual name when the time comes. So no, we're not changing it from PK to AK or KOW (kid on the way) or whatever other witty acronym you can think of. That's not the way it works. :)

2. When are you due?
I'm due early August, though my mom is convinced that PK will pop out on July 31st. She has a 6th sense, so who knows - she may be right on this one.

3. Was it planned?
If you knew me in high school or even university or shortly after getting married, you'd know that I never wanted kids, and neither did the hubby. But it all changed after the hubby's sister had a daughter. The idea of a kid grew on us, and after almost 5 years of marriage, we decided to take the plunge into parenthood. Basically, if you are a close friend and you asked that question, I'd totally get it. I think we shocked many friends when we told them that I was pregnant, and rightfully so.

Now, if you're a perfect stranger and you ask me this question, I find it both weird and rude. What business is it of yours if my pregnancy is planned? And for the record, in case it wasn't clear the first time, it most certainly was planned.

4. Are you going to find out the sex?
I know this is a common question, but it really really annoys me for some reason. Maybe because I've gotten it SO MANY TIMES! To answer the question, yes, we are going to find out the sex. It's really annoying to try to buy baby clothes without knowing the sex. There's only so far that green, yellow, and off-white will go. Besides, most of the really cute stuff has boy or girl prints on it. We will find out the sex on March 13th. Hopefully I'll get a new photo from the ultrasound to post on this site.

5. So you're taking a year off, right?
For more details on that one, check out my maternity leave post. In a nutshell, I'm not taking a full year off, and if I hear one more person with their opinion on why this is a bad idea, I will scream.

6. You drive a Civic. Surely you're buying a new car?
I never understood why having one kid justifies the purchase of a minivan or an SUV. Are you carrying the kid's entire bedroom with you? Sheesh. It's not like you're taking a bloody roadtrip with the kid every time you go out. If we were to take PK on a roadtrip, we would rent a minivan in that case. But for day-to-day city living, I hardly see how we could possibly justify a gas-guzzling monster car. The most we'd do would be to get a Volvo station wagon, as long as a) it didn't look tacky and b) didn't guzzle too much gas. I've had friends try to convince me to buy a crossover SUV. I love how car manufacturers are now prefixing SUV with "crossover" to dupe the gullible masses into thinking that somehow a crossover is better. Total horse pucky. Save the Earth and stop buying bigger cars than you need!

Okay, so I'm just a tad annoyed by a few things. I am pregnant and hormonal after all...I'm allowed. :)