Rockin' around the Christmas tree
We have the sweetest next door neighbors ever. They always stop to talk if we pass them walking or see them working in the yard. When I locked myself out of the house one evening, they let me come in and use their phone so the fresh fish I had piled in the trunk wouldn't go bad. (Hence Brian's insistence that I get a cell phone.) When Katrina struck and we were without power, sweet neighbors offered hot coffee from their battery-powered coffee maker.
And our neighbors LOVE Christmas. They put up their outdoor lights the day before Thanksgiving, impeccably lined up with their roofline. Their house also sports wreaths on each column of the front porch. In addition, every Christmas since we've moved to the neighborhood, sweet neighbors have given us a custom CD of Christmas music. (They have thousands of songs that they've amassed over the years.) We have so enjoyed the CDs. I'm a cheapskate when it comes to things like that, so I have virtually NO Christmas music CDs. Thanks to our neighbors, though, I now have several Christmas CDs with tons of cool, retro carols as well as more modern interpretations of the songs we all know and love.
But there is one little snafu. You see, sweet neighbors are gay men. So, in addition to Sinatra's '47 version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," the CD will probably also sport a Village People Christmas medley. (N-O-E-L instead of Y-M-C-A; Santa, Santa Claus instead of Macho, Macho Man; you follow me, right?) Please do not misunderstand me. I love these neighbors, and I LOVE the CDs. I just think it's precious how everyone's personality comes through when they make a mix tape.
So far, Clay's favorite song has been the dance club version of "It's Christmas Baby, Please Come Home," a duet by Cher and Rosie O'Donnell. (He just loves that sassy techno beat!) I'm thinking I might have to get him a toy gun or something this year, just to even everything out. Thoughts?
And our neighbors LOVE Christmas. They put up their outdoor lights the day before Thanksgiving, impeccably lined up with their roofline. Their house also sports wreaths on each column of the front porch. In addition, every Christmas since we've moved to the neighborhood, sweet neighbors have given us a custom CD of Christmas music. (They have thousands of songs that they've amassed over the years.) We have so enjoyed the CDs. I'm a cheapskate when it comes to things like that, so I have virtually NO Christmas music CDs. Thanks to our neighbors, though, I now have several Christmas CDs with tons of cool, retro carols as well as more modern interpretations of the songs we all know and love.
But there is one little snafu. You see, sweet neighbors are gay men. So, in addition to Sinatra's '47 version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," the CD will probably also sport a Village People Christmas medley. (N-O-E-L instead of Y-M-C-A; Santa, Santa Claus instead of Macho, Macho Man; you follow me, right?) Please do not misunderstand me. I love these neighbors, and I LOVE the CDs. I just think it's precious how everyone's personality comes through when they make a mix tape.
So far, Clay's favorite song has been the dance club version of "It's Christmas Baby, Please Come Home," a duet by Cher and Rosie O'Donnell. (He just loves that sassy techno beat!) I'm thinking I might have to get him a toy gun or something this year, just to even everything out. Thoughts?
Comments
I think kids kind of work these things out on their own. Some of the more feminine guys I know had great white hunter dads and some of the more masculine guys I know were raised with no dad and a pretty feminine mom.
The people who study this kind of thing say that kids raised by two gay parents grow up with pretty much exactly the same sexual inclinations as kids raised by straight parents.
Back in the 30's and 40's they thought that gay kids came from families with weak fathers and over-bearing mothers, but when they got around to actually studying it nobody could find any evidence to support that.
So far they haven't found anything that parents do or don't do that has any impact on a child's sexuality at all. They haven't found a genetic link either.
The current thinking is that it has something to do with pre-natal and/or post-natal hormonal changes in the individual.