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April 3, 2009 - By Nicole Xu
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″The number three was planned, sort of. After Taren was born, we thought about another for a while. Because we were going back and forth for a while, there are five and a half years between Caden and Taren,″ said AVID coordinator and economics teacher Gregory Schive, married to IB coordinator and math teacher Christine Schive.
After having two boys already independent and settled in school, the Schives decided to have a third child. Mr. Schive said, ″It gets to a point when you have to really decide whether or not to begin again in essence. When everyone goes to the bathroom by themselves, eats by themselves, plays good alone or together, puts their own seatbelts on … you have to decide whether or not to go through those things again. It is worth it though; kids are great.″
Although they would have loved to change the family dynamic with a daughter rather than a house full of boys, the odds favored that Christine would have another boy.
″When Christine was pregnant with our second and the ultrasound person told us he was a he, we were like, 'No kidding,' ″ said Gregory. ″By the third it was never a question. My wife has one brother but there are four boys and one girl on my side. The odds were against us probably.″
"The upside of having all boys [is] some clothes can be shared. The downside I am not sure; I never had another style in the house. Oh, maybe everyone peeing standing up; that can be a mess.″
Among the positives and negatives of having a house full of boys, some worry that the Schive children will not be exposed to how girls act and feel. In response, Gregory said, "Not understanding how girls feel? Are you kidding me? They, or all of us [boys] for that matter, could grow up in a house of 100 girls and we still would not understand how girls feel. [Girls] are all an enigma; that is a self-evident truth."
However the Schive household is not deprived of feminine company. Other than Christine, niece Katya Soldmann, daughter of science teacher Lara Soldmann, spends much time with the boys.
Said Gregory, ″I have only had boys in the house except for my niece around ... The boys never asked for a sister or a brother. I don't think it ever crossed their minds. Besides, Katya is over every day with the boys and they act like siblings so they do get exposure to girl stuff on a regular basis.″
″Three is good; we are stopping here. We were not really hoping for a girl. When you are zero for two, you just hope for a good hit and that is what we got,″ said Gregory. ″I don't know what to think about having three boys ... When it is all you know, there is no other perspective.″
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