Don’t Be Surprised If Your Kid Bursts Into Tears When She Finds Out You’re Pregnant

When we were expecting our first child together, my husband and I agonized over trying to find the right time to tell my stepdaughter. She was 10 at the time and very used to the way things were. It was just the three of us when she visited – herself, her dad and I – and I think she really liked it that way.

She lived in a house with filled with other kids – one sibling and a few cousins. I think she enjoyed being the only child that got attention when she stayed with us. We knew this, but we also thought she would enjoy being an older sister. Turns out – we were wrong. We did not anticipate the reaction we got when we shared the news – which is why I can totally sympathize with these parents who got quite a surprise when they shared their “happy” news with their kids.

As you can see, brother is thrilled – sister is pissed. You really never know how kids are going to take this kind of news. This brings me back to my stepdaughter. When I was around three and a half months pregnant we figured it was time to tell her. We planned a really fun weekend – and my husband took the train ride to Jersey to pick her up. As they were walking up the halls to our apartment, I heard what I thought was a stern voice. I was right. When they came through the door, she was crying.

It turns out she had disobeyed her mother and my husband was giving her a little talking-to. After they came through the door, I was giving him a quizzical look as if to say, Why are you doing this now? Is this really how you want to start the big reveal weekend? He took a totally wrong cue, and thought I was signaling him to break the news. Gah!

Him: Hey sweetie – we have some good news!

Me, frantically shaking my head – eyes bugging: We do?

Him: You’re going to be a big sister!

Stepdaughter is already crying, from the scolding she was getting about not listening to her mom. My dumb husband broke the news about a new baby while she was already crying. She began to cry harder. I began to feel like I was ruining her life. The weekend sucked.

Moral of the story: be prepared. Kids don’t always react to this news the way you would hope they would.

By the way – she loves being an older sister now.

(photo: Getty Images)