The Cruelest Cut

Gentlemen, you may want to cross your legs...really.

So anyone who has been privileged to be expecting a baby boy (sorry, Ambie, not you)has faced the decision of whether or not to circumcise your future man. If you've ever attended a child birth class during this discussion, this is the only time it may come to blows. Some say they wanted their sons to be "like father, like son", others say it is an outdated and totally unnecessary, cosmetic, and cruel practice based on meaningless, religious tradition.

I've had to face this decision twice and it's basically come down to this - better now than later. There are certain conditions that arise in a man's life that make circumcision necessary. Much better to do it when they haven't yet developed a paranoid devotion to their nether regions, so day two might be too late.

When we had our second son join the Jewish ranks, I made my husband follow along and watch. I'm not sure why. To make sure the doctor didn't cut too much? With a morbid sense of "you did this to him, watch the consequences"? In any case, I find that I have a lot of clout in making my husband do stuff right after child birth, so he went.

The doctor performing the circumcision insisted on having a hospital nurse present during the procedure. The nurse seemed a little annoyed thinking he should probably be able to handle it solo. So he explained that too often, when fathers attended the circumcisions of their sons, he would all of a sudden have two patients instead of one. So the nurse, with a smile on her face and with smelling salts and defibrillator handy, oversaw the proceedings.

My husband said it honestly wasn't that bad. And he is your typical, paranoid, cup-wearing male.

So while the cut may be cruel, it's best done before the baby can walk or talk or most importantly, remember what happened. Oh, and another thing, you might want to at some point explain this all to your young boy. My sister dated a guy who honestly didn't know if he was circumcised or not. Thankfully, he got it all straightened out and she didn't have to determine this for him.