By Double Duty Mama
My husband and I decided to have our boys circumcised at the hospital. There was no ceremony or party, even though my religion does call for rituals and prayers and such. I just couldn’t see throwing a party eight days after giving birth.
With my first born, both my husband and I accompanied him to the nursery for the procedure. It only took a few minutes, but it felt like forever. The cries of a newborn are hard to handle. When it’s your own newborn, it is downright intolerable.
Needless to say, when it came time for my second son’s circumcision a couple years later, I sent my husband without me.
I don’t feel bad or guilty about circumcising my sons. They were given a cream that helped numb the area so it wasn’t all that painful. The worst part for them was probably being naked and held down. We learned, during the hundreds of diaper changes that followed over the next few months, that infants hate being naked and held down.
I was surprised to read recently that there are political moves in at least two cities, San Francisco and Santa Monica, to ban circumcision of children. Today, however, there are news report that the woman behind the anti-circumcision movement in Santa Monica gave up. She said it was becoming too much of a religious discussion, which was not her intention.
We are lucky to live in country that allows us to choose certain elective health procedures for ourselves and our children. Whether we base those decisions on spirituality, health concerns or what we think is socially acceptable is up to us. There is a lot of information about parenting and health available, and a lot of opinions that go with them.
It’s great to do research and ask for advice. But in the end, when it comes to decisions about your children, you’re the parent. Make informed choices, and be glad you have the option to do so.
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