Help! They Know What's Good for Me!

This has been a year of learning. First, it began with the pregnancy. It appears that absolutely everyone is an expert on absolutely everything. They’d kindly dole out all sorts of advice on how I was carrying my baby to whether it was a boy or a girl to what I should and shouldn’t be eating to how my delivery would go (we’ll call those the psychic lot who could look into the future and predict my childbirth experience). Then came the baby and with it experts on child rearing. In our day we didn’t do this, here’s why your baby’s crying, here’s why he isn’t crying, here’s what you’re doing wrong, etc. I’ve been told to ignore these words of wisdom but it’s fairly difficult to rise above it all and be patient, especially when I’m so severely sleep deprived. So instead I’ve decided to write about it in feeble hopes of getting it out of my system. That, and I have seven minutes to kill before my much-talked about baby wakes up again.

Help! There's an Alien Growing in Your Belly!

One of the many things I know I won't miss about being pregnant is the
endless commenting about the size of my belly. I've been told the
comments are mostly harmless, but harmless things can also get to be
annoying.

Needless to say, this isn't OK. If a person looks ready to pop,
explode, blast into space, or self-destruct, chances are she already
knows. The same goes for the way she's carrying her baby: low, high,
on her head, or in her thighs- again, she's aware of it. If you're
doing this just to be congratulated on your astute observation skills,
well then well done! Now take those keen talents elsewhere.

Fe Fi Feline Fum

Lately, the cat’s been bothering me. He’s a tuxedo cat, about four years old, friendly and cute—qualities that can get to be quite bothersome. Consider this, for example: Every day, I’ll come home from work around 5 p.m. and he’ll give me the warmest welcome, rubbing himself against my legs, following me around, waiting to be picked up so he can nuzzle his nose in my hair. It’s just too much for someone to have to endure on a daily basis, but here I am quietly putting up with this affection day in and day out with no respite in sight.

Happy times are behind us.