The Magic of Rings and Pencils

I have probably told many of you this, but some I haven't so I thought I'd share:

At the end of January we went up for a visit to Cleveland. While we were there my mom thought we should do the "ring test" because both Erin and I don't know what we're having. We each used our own wedding rings, and did the "test" on both our wrist and our stomachs.

Each time Erin's went back and forth, and mine went in a circle. (Read: Erin's having a boy and I'm having a girl.) It was pretty amazing to see with your own eyes. The difference between the two was extremely noticeable, not left up to interpretation.

I also did the "Chinese Calendar" to determine the gender, and it said boy--for all four babies. Others I know who did this had results different from what they actually conceived.

I was thinking that because Erin and I used different rings that the results could have been different because of that. So a couple of weeks after Cleveland Mom and Joanie were over and we did the pencil test. Both Joanie and Mom took turns as the pencil holder and both results were the same: in a circle.

Last Sunday, when we had Jungle Jim day EVERYONE got involved. My cousin Andy found info that said that this is a Hungarian tradition, and not only does it predict gender for pregnant moms, but also shows the history for a mom who has already had babies. Not only that--the father will have the same results as the mother!

Although I tend to want to believe "old wives' tales," even I was skeptical as to what would happen when the fathers got involved. Here are a set of case studies, if you will, to make you a believer (however, I guess we'll only know how true it is come May & June...):

• Both Erin and I had the test done again, by both my mom and Aunt Jane and they read Boy for Erin and Girl for me.
• Joe did the test by both Mom and Aunt Jane and his said Boy. (Kevin chose not to participate.)
  
• My cousin and his wife, who are not pregnant, both got the Boy verdict for their first born.

Now this is the kicker:

• My Aunt Jane and Uncle Tom had four boys and then a girl. They both did the test, once with Mom holding the pencil, then with Lisa, Billy's girlfriend. Lisa does not know the order of their kids, and probably doesn't really know how much of each they have. Both time, for both my aunt and uncle the test read: Boy-Boy-Boy-Boy-Girl. Now that's just plain eerie.

There has to be some truth to old wives' tales, or else they wouldn't have lasted as long as they have. And it makes sense that there's some kind of vibe or energy being given off by the baby because it is a little bitty soul living inside you. (As a side note, I've heard that in Chinese culture you are considered 1-year-old when you are born because you have been living on this planet for about a year already.)

Regardless, I know that Kevin thinks it is ridiculous to do these "tests" because we have decided not to find out the baby's gender, but it's been fun to think about our next addition to the family. If we haven't been doing the pencil test I would just assume that we're having a boy because that's all we've ever known. Now it'll truly be a surprise!

(Does anyone have any information about the gender percentages? For example, the more of one gender you have, the higher percentage you'll have the same gender, until the babies get to four, then almost definitely you'll have the opposite for the fifth...unless you're all believers in that it's 50-50 each time...)