The Original Bonus Baby

It is always interesting when children eavesdrop on adult conversations. You never know what ideas they get in their heads when they think they know what you're talking about, but they really don't.

Recently, our family had a lovely visit from a parishioner who brought us a meal to celebrate the birth of our baby boy, David. She enjoyed holding him and telling stories of her family. As usual, my older girls gathered round to listen in, and put their oar in whenever they could find a space.

We were talking about how much more you appreciate the little babies when you are older. I had my first baby 13 years ago and with the huge learning curve for the first one and toddlers to distract me for the other four, this is my first baby that I have really been able to enjoy from the start!

Adorable pic of David taken by Emily Perry at Emily Perry Images

When our guest shared about how blessed their family has been by "bonus babies," our 8-year-old piped in wanted to know what a bonus baby was.

"Well," I began, carefully, "when a couple thinks that they aren't going to have any more children, then God blesses them with one, people call that a bonus baby."

"Oh," she said, "like your friend Mary?"

I explained to our guest that after miscarrying her second child, my friend Mary was told that she had less than a 1% chance of having children again, but after being anointed with Lourdes water at a healing mass, she WAS blessed with another child, and is now expecting her 6th!

"That's one way to look at it, but that isn't exactly what people mean," I told Leah. "Usually a "bonus baby" is a blessing a couple receives when they are older and don't expect to have more children."

"Ooooooh!" She said, as the lightbulb went off in her head. "Like Abraham and Sarah when they had Isaac!"

We all laughed and concurred that she got the concept this time. "Yes," I told her, "I think Isaac must have been the original bonus baby!"