Here is ‘weird thing that happens once you are a parent’ number 584 - people stop you in the street and say the rudest things! I first noticed when Big Sis was a baby, she had a strawberry mark on her forehead. It was probably about 2 cm in diameter and nothing to worry about. They develop in the first few days after birth, grow bigger for a while and then fade and decrease in size. They generally disappear completely over the first few years (which Big Sis’ did).
So, you can imagine my surprise when out and about with my little baby people would (regularly) stop me in the street, point and say things like - “What’s that on your babies head?”. The tone was often hostile and when I explained what it was and how it would disappear they would look at me disbelievingly as if to day - “Sure lady!”.
Today a woman I sometimes see in the cafe up the road noticed that I was pregnant. She exclaimed - “Are you expecting again?”, eyeing Big Sis and Little Bro, when I confirmed the good news she responded with - “Silly girl!”. Needless to say I met her with a steely look and simply stated “We are really happy!”
I wonder what exactly she meant? I think we look like we are coping, I even wiped the vegemite off their faces before we left home and I washed their hair last night! Is there some suggestion I’m not in charge of my own fertility or DSO is some crazed patriarch sewing his seed regardless of my thoughts on the matter? Is it just part of that societal fallacy that children are burdens to be minimised and endured? I expect as my girth expands I’m in for a few more comments like this!
There is also the issue of commenting on another persons pregnancy when they haven’t told you! Those words “When is the baby due?” to someone who is not pregnant is such a faux pas! Why do people go there?
A friend who was the victim of this some 4 months after actually delivering a baby told me the easiest thing to do is just make up a date - then they leave you alone!
babies, pregnancy
