Over the summer a new face of the Jonnard family was added on July 27, by the name of Ashton Allen Kirkpatrick Jonnard. This tongue twister has some family history behind it. Allen was passed down by his grandfather, and Kirkpatrick comes from his mother's maiden name. As said by Jonnard himself, "Oh I can't believe we're doing this again, haha." His first child Katie is now 2 and a half years old.

The Ridge Review interviewed Mr. Jonnard to get his views on Ashton.

 

A:  I felt incredibly lucky that he was born healthy, with all his fingers and toes.  I was also happy that I now had a boy and a girl, because I am looking forward to living vicariously through their experiences, and I thought it would be cool to relive all of their milestones with them: their first words, their first solid foods, their first day at school, etc.

 

A:  I had a hard time "bonding" to the baby when it was in my wife's belly: it just didn't feel "real" to me.  Once a child is born and you can pick him or her up, it feels much more "real" and bonding is more natural.

 

A:  I think it would be fun to have my children in my math classes.  We'd have to decide when they have to call me "Mr. Jonnard" and when they could just call me "dad."  It would be tempting to go over their quizzes or tests with them at home when I'm grading them, but I wouldn't be able to do that, out of fairness.  Imagine: I might have to stay late to help them with their quiz corrections at school!

 

A:  There are so many things my daughter does that remind me of my students!  For instance, she'll ask me the same question three times, get "no" three times in a row, and still keep asking.  With teenagers, I used to think once or twice would be enough, but teenagers will hear "no" and still ask the same questions 5 or 6 times!  On the other hand, I am amazed at the capabilities of my teenage students: they can handle so much more abstract information so quickly, and they have mastered so many of the things my daughter still struggles with.  I can't wait for the day when my children can get dressed, feed themselves, and take themselves to school!

 

A:  I've learned to be a lot less self-centered.  I didn't have my first child until the age of 42, and I was used to pretty much getting to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted.  For instance, I could go to a restaurant or the movies any time, with little consideration for the scheduling or needs of others.  Now that I have kids, I realize that I was living an incredibly self-centered life!

 

A:  Now that I have kids and feel that I have so little time to myself, I wonder why I don't know five languages, why I didn't travel to all of the continents, and why I don't know every word in the dictionary!  It feels like I had a tremendous amount of free time in the past!  I think that with very young children, I feel my time is very constrained, but as my children get older, I think I will find time to develop my interests and also to develop common interests with my children.  I think it will broaden me as a human being.

 

A:  If my children grow up to be as organized and detail-oriented as I am, it's going to be a scary world!  My daughter has begun lining up her magnets on the refrigerator and I wonder if she's going to end up like me.  It would probably be a good thing if they ended up more like my wife: they would have an interest in arts, drama, and music, areas in which I have little talent or interest.  If they were like my wife, they would be able to remember song lyrics or dialogue, unlike me.  (My daughter has begun to memorize the words to songs and books, and what is amazing about it is that I'm the one who reads the books to her, and yet I don't know the words as well as she does!)  My children, if they were like my wife, would process the world in more emotional and subjective terms, instead of trying to analyze things in black-and-white, and that would probably be a good thing, too.

 

Q. What was the hardest part of the pregnancy? Was it worth it? 

A:  The worst part was at 2 am three weeks before our due date (July 27) when my wife kicked the side of the bed, waking me up, and announced, "We're getting air conditioning in this house, and I don't care how much it costs!"  I didn't know how to respond, as I was still half-asleep.  About two weeks after the installation, my wife admitted that it was probably an impulse purchase.

 

Yes, the pregnancy was worth it: I love air conditioning!