I suppose there's nothing really wrong with discussing due dates, the sex of baby, the name of baby, how many pounds said baby was when born, whether you're breast feeding, how the baby is sleeping, how precious baby is, or how much you could just eat baby up, etc. I'm not really a cruel person that wants to deny people of looking at an adorable baby and I'm fine hearing compliments about how beautiful my children are. People tend to be obsessed with them- especially when they're not the ones who have to change a poop filled diaper at 3 a.m. when their eyes are crusted over and ohh woops, a stream of pee just dowsed a pillow.
If you know me at all then you know I'm not the most social of creatures. I'm not overly outgoing and I rarely would consider approaching a random stranger and striking up a conversation about anything. When I worked in retail I never really asked people personal questions. I certainly never would have asked a pregnant woman, "Are you pregnant?" as was asked of me with pregnancy #1 at around 7 months. Even if I see a cute baby at the mall I never feel compelled to approach the mother and ask her an array of questions.
So I think I'm most amused by those who are much like people that stand too close when talking to you, they keep oohing and awing just a touch too long. They cross those invisible lines of appropriateness and put you in a situation that falls out of your comfort zone. But maybe it's just me. One of my favorite stories thus far was with our daughter when she was about 4 months old. We were shopping at a Hickory Farms stand and I was holding her and a woman came up and told us how adorable she was and asked the typical questions of age and name. Then she just kept on going and proceeded to inform us more than once that she could just eat her up. I know, I know it's just an expression but really? Then it happened. "Can I hold her?" Really? You've just expressed your desire to consume my baby and I've never seen you before. All I know we have in common is our desire to peruse boxes of meat and cheese and that isn't going to cut it. We made up some excuse about her not being comfortable with people she didn't know and although she looked disappointed she backed off.
I liken it to the following: You wouldn't see someone carrying a purse you really liked, inform them of this, and then ask to try it on your shoulder. Why would you hand your baby over to a complete stranger in a mall? So now that I'm venturing out of the cave known as my house a bit more, the comments, the encounters that last much too long, and the touching have begun. So in my quest to be a better me I will try hard to be understanding and only amused by these people. I will politely answer their questions and remember that this moment in time when your baby is actually a baby lasts only so long. Those Moms who have watched their baby grow up and learn to walk and talk, go to school and beyond are perhaps just wistful and just can't help themselves. So I will try and recognize this need, although it's not mine: yet. Just don't ask me to hold my child when we've never met or tell him you want to eat him with a maniacal look in your eye. Then all bets are off.
Couldn't you just eat these two up?
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