A Man Amongst Women

Watching my nieces is always a treat—Jacko and Lucy love their company, and now that the younger niece Britain doesn't cry at the sight of me, I love their company too. Their ages are: Jacko (almost three), Eden (two), Britain (one), and Lucy (days until one); they all play together extremely well and it makes babysitting easy.

The girls came to our house on Friday and instantly formed a child alliance with my kids. Their main creed was to keep all adults at arm's length. Whenever I offered my playing services, they would all look at me like I was crazy. So, I simply observed them instead.

And I mused about Jacko being in a room full of girls. He loved it. I know many guys who kept their inner circle full of girls, and for those who were interested in that sort of thing, got tons of dates from it. I approve of Jacko's knack for getting himself into female situations.

He has the genetics for it, though. My husband Caleb is the only brother in a family full of girls. He claims that being the older brother means he can tease the sisters constantly, but I encourage the other stereotype of the protector. Caleb was one of those boys who had a ton of female friends in high school, but he didn't date any of them. You have to wait for the right lady, and the right lady is always named Holly.

And on the flip side of the gene pool, my dad is the only male in a house filled with six women. He wouldn't have it any other way, seeing as he himself was a rambunctious little boy and was afraid to create a mini-monster. My dad has a soft heart, which makes him the perfect girl daddy; he also possesses a fierce loyalty to his daughters, which made him an intimidating foe for those boys who wanted to date me. The Chatfield family has had many pets over the years, but only one of them has been male: a beta fish named Marty. My dad joked that he wanted to bring Marty into the living room and watch Rambo some days. And according to family lore, he has only had one full day of female claustrophobia and had to decompress with manly movies and sports.

I was shocked that my first child was a masculine one. But, rumor has it that boys who grew up surrounded by girls become the best men.