[Shaunam]

I'm sorry, but this totally cracked me up. :LOL Normally I get somewhat defensive when the topic turnes to circ, but my MIL is not even worth arguing with, or even trying to convince. Everything she did was right, no matter what.

So, DH and I were over at her house visiting. DH goes off to hang out with his brother. I'm stuck listening to his mom. Luckily GMIL was there and she's pretty cool so it didn't seem so bad.

They were telling pregnancy and labor stories. Mostly MIL is talking. GMIL and I can barely get a word in edge-wise. Just so you have an idea...everything my MIL dealt with was soooo horrible and soooo unfair. She totally exaggerates and I don't believe half of what she says. EX: When I first got pregnant, she told me horror stories about her morning sickness. It was soooo horrible and soooo unfair. Whatever. Turns out she had it for a month in her first trimester. Sounds pretty typical to me. I'm still puking at 9 months and haven't gotten a break. I still don't complain as much as she does, and hers was 26 years ago! OK, so you get the picture.

Horror story after horror story, MIL says, "and you know what happened then?" No, what? "I was about to go home and noticed Jason wasn't circumcised! Can you BELIEVE they forgot to circumcise him!!??"

I guess she raised hell and they did it and then sent them home. Poor kid. Maybe she thought they automatically did it or something. It probably wasn't even in her chart to begin with.

Anyways....she's making this big fuss like it's an atrocity for such a thing to happen and GMIL says (non-chalantly), "I didn't get your brothers done."

And of course, then I chime in, "yeah, we're not doing it either."

She shut up quick. I think if it had just been me there, she would have had a fit about us not doing it, but she really can't argue with her mother!

Ok, so I didn't exactly advocate against it, but it was nice to see my MIL get quiet so quick. I swear her mouth runs non-stop....

 

[2Late2BCreative]

Your story made me laugh bc I was a little concerned about how my inlaws were going to react bc we didn't circ and I told my DH that if they (or anyone else for that matter) said something about DS being intact I was going to react by saying...."OMG....they didnt' circ him??!! I can't believe they forgot to circ him!!! Oh well....he'll just have to stay this way now."...of course all this being said with lots of sarcasm! I thought it would be a great reply to anyone who was surprised at an intact infant!! But...no one said anything and I didn't get a chance to use my comeback. Which was actually nice that it wasn't a big deal.

 

[Frankly Speaking]

Great story! It reminds me of another woman who was on another board. She posted incessantly about how necessary circumcision was and how glad whe was that she had circumcised her son. She and a friend pretty much dominated that board for several weeks. Her friend eventually "got it" and decided not to circumcise her son. With her losing the support of her friend, she finally started listening. But she still maintained steadfastly how important it was for the son to "look like Dad" and how her son would have felt bad if he had not been circumcised so that his penis would be like her husband's. She went on and on about how important it was. Suddenly, her whole demeanor changed and she started asking very pointed questions about what an intact penis looked like and how a foreskin worked. Suddenly, she disappeared for a few days and when she came back, she had a very embarassing confession to make. Her husband was intact! Neither of them knew what an intact penis looked like and had simply assumed he was circumcised! They even went as far as to confirm it with her mother-in-law who confirmed that he had not been circumcised. She even admitted that the favorite part of her husband's penis was the foreskin and she loved playing with it. She was very embarassed and then wished she had not had her son circumcised and said she would not have future sons circumcised.

Frank

 

[Mom2megan]

2 late...I thought thats what this post was going to be about too!! Im LOL!!!!!

Shaunam...I bet you were grinning ear to ear!!

 

[Camellia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frankly Speaking Her husband was intact! Neither of them knew what an intact penis looked like and had simply assumed he was circumcised! They even went as far as to confirm it with her mother-in-law who confirmed that he had not been circumcised. She even admitted that the favorite part of her husband's penis was the foreskin and she loved playing with it. She was very embarassed and then wished she had not had her son circumcised and said she would not have future sons circumcised. Frank

wow....I'm glad she won't circ future sons...but wow non the less. I can't believe she didn't know that her own husbands penis was intact.

 

[stayathomecristi]

at Frankly speaking---OMG that is the funniest story I've ever heard.

Cristi

 

[ABC's&123's]

Frank-
You're a riot, and I even know who you're talking about. It's still amusing to hear it form you!

I haven't been around much lately, but wanted to mention that this forum was specifically mentioned over on livejournal (in the 'unkindest cut' forum) and I was so excited b/c I post here sometimes!

Frank email me and let me know what's going on with everyone and everything- I'm way out of the loop! I also have some off-topic concerns I wanted ot share with you and get your opinion (dad

).

Huggles, Ang

 

[kathy1_10]

Too bad more hospitals don't forget to circumcise...lol

 

[ABC's&123's]

What's really too bad, around HERE (The South, which I *love*, don't get me wrong) is that they assume you'll want it done. They just march right in and ask when your son is going for his procedure. And if you ask questions, they pretty much say, "Well of COURSE you want it done!"

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

:

 

[2Late2BCreative]

That's amazing that they just assume you will have it done. I mean doesn't the medical profession have to keep current? Don't they have access to information regarding the care of their patients?? Aren't they supposed to be unbiased?? UGH...it's frustrating that you have to deal with that. The hospital where I had DS was very good about it and not at all surprised we didn't circ...it's an Army hospital too....one of the Peds even informed me that if we wanted it done, it was an irreversible procedure and that if we wanted it done later, we could then decide. I actually thought she was more on the don't circ side than to circ. One of the nurses even talked to my mom about how she wouldn't circ if she had boys. I was so glad about this bc my mom was freaked out when I told her we wouldn't circ. She thinks I "read too much"....and that's why I breastfeed, cosleep, AP, etc.

 

[ABC's&123's]

Yes, I can see where reading too much and being informed and educated is a definite minus in one's life...

My mother was a little taken aback herself, but I feel stronger against than she does for. So after she gave me her "cleaner, healthier, more hygienic" routine and I shot them all down- she basically gave up.

 

[paquerette]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lindsaylou I can't believe she didn't know that her own husbands penis was intact.

I have to wonder what she thought he used to have that'd been cut off.

 

[Stevie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by paquerette I have to wonder what she thought he used to have that'd been cut off.

Maybe she's only seen it erect

Frank, I cracked up over your story; as I've mentioned before, my DH#1 was also ignorant over his own status... when I told him DS#1 was being circ'd that day (it was 28 yrs ago and I really didn't know any better) he threw a fit; how could I make him look all ugly, etc. Of course I was surprised and told him I was amazed that he was so unhappy with his own circ. We ended up arguing over whether he was indeed circ'd!!! (he was

)

 

[Frankly Speaking]

You would be very surprised how many men don't know if they are circumcised or not.

A couple of years ago, there was a study that tried to make a connection between circumcision status and cervical cancer in the men's partners. There were many obvious flaws in the study but one of them was that the study relied on "self reporting" of the men's circumcision status. In other words, they simply asked the men if they were circumcised and relied on their answer for their statistics. No one actually examined the men to confirm their circumcision status. Soon after this study came out, some one did a response to it and linked to a study about whether men accurately reported their circumcision status. The error rate was 15%! In other words, 15% of the men were wrong about whether they were circumcised or not. Since the differential of the cervical cancer rate of the men's partners was in about the 2% range, this single factor was enough to totally invalidate the study. Add in all of the other confounders and the study was totally worthless but it did get tremendous publicity in the popular media that it showed a conclusive benefit from circumcision.

So this man not knowing his own circumcision status is not at all unusual. There is no telling how many boys have been circumcised to look like their fully intact fathers.

Frank