State of the Union of DS's Constitution

[AnalogWife]

Today my father and stepmother took DS for the day, and I greeted them with a type-written (my handwriting sucks) Safety Brief (known by my DH as "The Constitution") of several items spawned by my prediction of all the crazy things my stepmother would do with my 4-month old (cut his hair, feed him ice cream, take him out of town w/o me knowing, be careless with her bedazzled jeans, etc.) and I verbally went over each step, including how to simply wipe his intact penis, not to pull at it, etc. I don't think they knew he was uncirc'd and you could have hear a pin drop, but they kept silent! Half of me wanted watch their faces turn to prunes and ask "whhhhhhyyyyyy???????" but the other half of me is ecstatic that they accepted our choice with no flak.

What were your parents reaction to DS's intactitude?

[Pandora114]

They don't care. My inlaws dont care, my parents dont care. Why would they be shocked? It's a penis. Where I live, it's one of those "non issues"

[phdmama06]

My parents weren't bothered by it at all - they are British and it never occurred to them that DS would even be circ'ed The ILs were another story because they are pretty pro-circ (mainly because of "look like Daddy" and "locker room" reasons). When I told them DS wasn't circumcised I could see MIL's face drop but she didn't really make any comments other than a bland "oh." OK.

[DklovesMkandJK]

My in laws are still Po'ed.

They can bite me

[triplembride]

when i brought up that no future son of ours will be circ'd MIL said but your FIL is intanct and he hates it that is why our boys are circ'd i was shocked to hear this and dont know any further reasons but i'm thinking it was because he was ashamed growing up but she supports our decision and my mom thinks i've lost it but ya know what its our kid

[Mrs-Mama]

Well, for my in-laws it was no big deal since DH is intact. But, when I told my mom, her reaction was, "But, he has to be circumsized!" : Me: "Uh, no he doesn't...there's no medical reason to do it." Later, she told me that she had spoken to a nurse-friend of hers that advised us to "make sure that we have him circumsized" since it prevents UTIs I'm sure there was much more discussion that went on behind my back, but it was dropped with me when she realized that we were NOT changing our minds.

[eepster]

They would have been very shocked if I had wanted to circ DS. My family was all quite surprised when we found out my nephew was circ'd (I'm sure if my parents had know ahead of time they would have made a fuss.) My mom warned me several time to make sure everyone at the hospital knew we didn't want him circ'd and to read everything very carefully before signing it.

My ILs were happy too.

[kdlizmama]

My mom was glad. She thinks it's great that we "know better than her generation did" My MIL didn't care, she really minds her own business, but it was funny when we were having a conversation with my BIL and SIL who were expecting a boy just a few months after us and discussing our reasons for keeping ds intact (I think they were on the fence about it), she chimed in with, "well your father wasn't circed you know" My dh and his brother had no idea. They decided not to circ either.

[kxsiven]

My American MIL was happy. She is a nurse in CA and totally agrees it's not necessary. My own parents do not even know that such a thing exists and would have probably fainted if we had done something so horrible like circ to their grandson.

[A&A]

If I felt it necessary to write a letter before handing over my child, you can rest assured I wouldn't be handing over my child, period.

[njeb]

My mother didn't care; she and my father left my brother intact! So I was just carrying on a proud family tradition.
My in-laws never said anything one way or the other. My dh is circ'ed, though.

[absinthe]

My in-laws never said anything, despite performing a number of diaper chages on my son. Never that is until my son's second birthday party last month when she walked in on a circumcision discussion and spit out her opinion with such anger and vitriol that the women present were appalled. However since she disagrees with and internalizes our decisions about: breastfeeding, cloth diapering, vaxing, homeschooling, co-sleeping, vegetarianism, and gentle discipline I can't say that I was surprised. Woo hoo, she arrives for another visit in three days .

[AnalogWife]

Originally Posted by A&A

If I felt it necessary to write a letter before handing over my child, you can rest assured I wouldn't be handing over my child, period.

And.....

[Treece]

Crud, i don't have a clue how my in-laws will react. My last baby's (xh's) grandma and I discussed this in detail. She told me she was scared we would. When I told her that after a little reseach (actually seeing pics) I decided agatinst it. No, her son was not. Now this one, the daddy is and I'm not sure how his family will react. Mine really hasn't said much (I'm not sure they know that ds is intact).

I'm not sure how I would handle mil saying healthier blah blah blah. With my mom, I said it isn't recommended these days. She said she would if she had a son tomorrow, and I said poor kid. Then I changed the subject.

[JamesMama]

My mom couldn't care less (DS is circed, future sons will not be). My dad/my dads side will probably FLIP.

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt my IL's will FLIP because according to my GMIL my GFIL 'had' to be circed when he was older and it was so terrible so we'd better make sure just to get it over with when our babies are babies.

Honestly, I couldn't care less. My kid my rules. I simply tell them "You had your chance to screw up your kids, it's my turn now."

I chalk their reactions up to living in the Midwest (Iowa)...IIRC the Midwest still has one of the highest circ rates in the country.

[Oliver'sMom]

My mom surprisingly was really glad we didn't circ ds. She said that she always had a lot of guilt about circing my brother and that they basically took him away from her and did it without her fully knowing what was going on. I don't know how much of that is true, but I'm sure it's hard for her either way.

My dad on the other hand is very religious and seems to hide and crawl into his shell just at the mentioning of the word penis or any body part that he sees as sinful :

I don't know if my IL's even know. They've never met ds.

[eepster]

Originally Posted by Oliver'sMom

My mom surprisingly was really glad we didn't circ ds. She said that she always had a lot of guilt about circing my brother and that they basically took him away from her and did it without her fully knowing what was going on. I don't know how much of that is true, but I'm sure it's hard for her either way.

That story is very likely. Many boys were circ'd through out the 1950s, 60, and early 70s with out getting concent or even asking the parentsif they wanted to. In the late 70s, 80s and 90s the concent forms were often just slipped in with the other papers, and the parent was expected to sign them all one after another.

[Romana]

My MIL has bought into all the myths (dh is circ'd), but my own mom called me before dd was born (gender was going to be a surprise, so could have been a boy) and told me that my dad and brother were intact and that it wasn't necessary. So I know I'll only get props from my parents if we have a boy, and MIL is pretty good about knowing when not to disagree. I don't anticipate any problems if this one is a boy.

[~Megan~]

dh's parents knew we weren't going to cut and haven't said a word though I know they don't support it.

My mom only said, "So that's what a uncircumcised one looks like."

[christifav]

My parents don't care either way...they are way more pissed that we don't vax and don't give birth in hospitals.

In laws haven't said a word...they are good about minding their own business.