Yesterday, Julie's 16-week leave was officially approved. That, coupled with today marking 39 weeks, means that our respective leaves will touch. It's good news because if her leave ended before mine started, we'd have to drop off the kid at the Ikea ball pit before work each day. As it stands now, we're looking for the perfect childcare option come late-August.
Meanwhile, people continue to say and do the damnedest things. The other day at Target, we were taking back a gift (not yours), and the woman behind the counter practically jumped over it to molest Julie's stomach. "Ooh, you are soooo pregnant," she cooed. Julie stayed polite and so did I, though I don't think it would have been out of line for Julie to grab the woman's stomach and exclaim, "Hey, you're kind of obese!"
Who rubs a pregnant stranger's stomach at Target? What kind of crazy-pants do you need to be? It's like grabbing her boob and saying, "Ooh, this is going to make milk!" Psycho.
A teacher told me yesterday that if I wanted Julie to go into labor, I should have her jump on a trampoline. Um, hello? Anybody home in there?
Then there are the people who unleash schadenfreude and don't even realize it (or perhaps they do). "Are you ready to never sleep again?" they say with a murderous grin. "You have no idea what you're in for. I hope you've had fun, because it's all about to end. MWAH HA HA HA HA!" These are generally the same people who, when you ask about their weekend, they say "Too short." Good grief, Debby Downer. Way to take delight in seeing the negative in everything, even having a baby.
It's all in good fun, of course. Nobody truly means harm. I'll tell you, though, what to say to a pregnant lady. Find a way to compliment something about her appearance, and tell her you hope everything is going well. That's it. And the father-to-be? Buy that man a beer.
...and the next logical step is to create a blog about it.
About Me
- Dan
- Minnesota, United States
6 comments:
Didn't you know that a pregnant woman's stomach is public property? Anyone and everyone is allowed to touch/say anything tummy-related at any point.
It's official.
I, oddly enough, never had a stranger attempt to touch my belly. But, then again, Julie does look/is much nicer than me! LOL
People are creepy idiots, what can you do? As for the Debbie Downers out there, it's because many of us have a tendency to focus on the negative despite the good. Or, maybe it's because it's a lot easier to articulate the way your life is about to change from a negative perspective, because it's nearly impossible to find the words to express just how much it's going to change for the better.
Nathan - Yeah, you're probably right. I wasn't thinking of you with the whole Debby Downer thing, by the way. I don't think I've ever heard you be negative about parenting.
Parenting sucks.
Oops - didn't mean to let that last comment slip out.
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