Things people say when you are pregnant – and it is just annoying!

The prophecy of doom: “Your life will never be the same again” – you hear it – a lot! Most people will say this with complete love and awe in their voices, but then there are those who say it like they are delivering the prophecy of doom. There have been a few times where I had to prevent myself from asking, “so then why did you have children?”

You just wait till your little one is born: The biggest problem I have with this statement is that it is often said in a condescending way, like I am a brainless twit. I agree, you have no clue what a situation is like until you are in it, but you also don’t need to put your hand on a hot stove just to console someone who accidently burned themselves.

You don’t understand tired until you have had a newborn: Like my current state of tired means absolutely nothing? I believe there are different kinds of tired. For example, there is the stressed-kind, the ‘I partied too hard’ kind, the newborn kind, etc. Some tired you can handle, some you can’t. I would imagine that you are absolutely exhausted as a new parent, but surely when that little face looks up at you cooing and smiling, the tiredness must be all worth it? And if you really want to start comparing, you have no clue what depressed-tired feels like. Put that in your pipe and empathise with the different kinds of tired.

Enjoy {insert your favourite activity} while you can because you will have to give it up: Why? Just, why? Why must my husband stop playing soccer (once a week) or bowls (on the odd occasion)? Why will I have to stop going to gym? Sure, it will take us some time to adjust to a new little person in the house, but I see no reason why we should give up our favourite activities indefinitely – and don’t give me the “you just wait…” crap. Reality is that as parents we actually need to put our wellbeing first. If our needs and wellbeing are not taken care of, how can we be expected to take care of someone else’s? Just think about it.

Just wait till your baby is born, your cats will no longer matter: These people I want to slap in the face with a chair. I am not ignorant, I am fully aware of the fact that having a two-legged, non-furry, baby demands more of your time, but neglect the kittens completely? Not in a million years! My husband and I have spoken about the integration at length, and we will do our best to make the transition for our kittens as easy as possible. After all, they were there first – and will forever be our fur-babies.

I can’t see you as a {insert gender here} mom: Huh? Say what? Firstly, what does a “boy mom” look like? Secondly, I get there is a difference between boys and girls, but we are raising adults and to my knowledge, boy or girl, you need to teach your child the same principles.

And the last, but certainly not least, another gender comment…

You better be having a {insert gender preference here}: When we found out we were pregnant I had this idea that we would do a gender revealing with all of our loved ones. Then it started, “oh, I hope you have a {insert gender} / we need a {insert gender} in the group / we really want a {insert gender} / you better be having a {insert gender}”. Say what?! So if our HEALTHY, HAPPY, bouncy, baby has a penis, he will mean less in your life? The gender revealing idea went out the window quite quickly and I was left in a state of hormonal tears most of the time, captured by fear that my baby won’t be loved as much or, that somehow, I would’ve failed cause my baby is not a specific gender.