What people say about pregnancy...
Jun. 9th, 2008 09:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
franceslievensI've been doing the rounds, telling various people about my pregnancy. Most of them react very positive with congratulations and questions about my well-being. Others talk about how exiting things will be, and my pregnant colleagues compare notes. That's always fun.
But some do end up saying the strangest things. Second grade teacher B. hollered: "I didn't even know you had a boyfriend!" There have been numerous pregnant women without a boyfriend, and maybe I forgot to mention I have a girlfriend? B. merely showed her own stupidity by mentioning her ignorance.
Then there are the statements along the lines of "You're 14 weeks pregnant, and it still doesn't show?" (usually this one's followed by the question how far that is in months – for your information: I've just made it through the first trimester, so about three months). To be honest, between my first weighing at 9 weeks and the second one at 13 weeks I gained the grand total of 900 grams. This was probably due to the fact I wasn't wearing shoes the first time, and did wear them the second time. Today first grade teacher S. decided to investigate when she crossed me in the hallway. With her eyes almost level with my inexistent belly she suddenly found a tiny bump. Yes, it's there, but it's also gone in the morning. According to A. the baby first has to fill up the hollowness, before I can have a bump. P. calls it negative space.
But none of them can top the five-minute speech my headmistress gave me when I told her the news. She talked about how being a parent is an added value in your teaching practice. I failed to mention all the childless, but nonetheless great, teachers at her school. She went on about the beauty of pregnancy, and how one must enjoy the life inside your belly, because "you'll miss it when it's gone". I refrained from rolling my eyes. And then, just when I was going through the door, she hit me with her best argument: "I always consider this a gift of god." I bit my tongue and did not say I believed she was talking to the wrong teacher.
But some do end up saying the strangest things. Second grade teacher B. hollered: "I didn't even know you had a boyfriend!" There have been numerous pregnant women without a boyfriend, and maybe I forgot to mention I have a girlfriend? B. merely showed her own stupidity by mentioning her ignorance.
Then there are the statements along the lines of "You're 14 weeks pregnant, and it still doesn't show?" (usually this one's followed by the question how far that is in months – for your information: I've just made it through the first trimester, so about three months). To be honest, between my first weighing at 9 weeks and the second one at 13 weeks I gained the grand total of 900 grams. This was probably due to the fact I wasn't wearing shoes the first time, and did wear them the second time. Today first grade teacher S. decided to investigate when she crossed me in the hallway. With her eyes almost level with my inexistent belly she suddenly found a tiny bump. Yes, it's there, but it's also gone in the morning. According to A. the baby first has to fill up the hollowness, before I can have a bump. P. calls it negative space.
But none of them can top the five-minute speech my headmistress gave me when I told her the news. She talked about how being a parent is an added value in your teaching practice. I failed to mention all the childless, but nonetheless great, teachers at her school. She went on about the beauty of pregnancy, and how one must enjoy the life inside your belly, because "you'll miss it when it's gone". I refrained from rolling my eyes. And then, just when I was going through the door, she hit me with her best argument: "I always consider this a gift of god." I bit my tongue and did not say I believed she was talking to the wrong teacher.
