Boys will be boys

I don't have strong feelings about circumcision. I don't know why, I feel like I _should_ have strong feelings about it, considering how noninterventionist I am about health care in the first place. But I guess it has something to do with the amount of intimate experience I have with uncut men--and that's practically none.

My husband, on the other hand, does feel quite strongly about not circumcising the baby. So begins my anxiety, it would seem, because I had a dream last night that one of my children had been circumcised without anesthetic at about the age of 10. Elder son is, already, but had enough left over that as a youth, during physicals, doctors would remind me that it wasn't too late to take care of that if we wanted to. Will that happen as the baby gets older? And what will I do when I can't retort "he already is circumcised, you nitwit?"

Meanwhile, a friend of mine with a newborn son was recently appalled when her pediatrician apparently retracted her son's foreskin at his first checkup. She (and I) were appalled; isn't that not supposed to be possible before the baby is about two?

What can I expect from this decision? We live in a rural area, and already the attention our decision seems to be getting makes me think we're making an unusual choice for this region. How can we explain to younger son why his dad and elder brother look different? How can I bring this topic up to Elder Son to get his opinions on it? (I'm considering asking my husband to talk to him about it, but that's still kind of a strange stepfather dynamic to ask for.)

I know there are people who see circumcision as mutilation. I, to be honest, am ambivalent; I see their point of view but also understand the point of view of those who see it as normal. But I find it odd that most people clamoring about this are women, and would honestly prefer to hear from men about it. Because that's the one perspective I don't have.

In the meantime, I'm going to follow my husband's wishes, but I just wish I could feel better about it, and wonder how much time I'll have to spend defending his decision and protecting the baby from those who would try and persuade me otherwise, if that makes any sense.