Since the day I turned 28 (on July 24), the topic of me having a baby has been quite popular among those I know, and even those I've never met before. I'm not sure what exactly happened, but something changed when I turned 28 and suddenly people seem very concerned about when I will start to make babies.
Have you seen those Arby's commercials where they have the big logo over their head with the caption, "I'm thinking Arbys"? I can't help but feel like I've been walking around with one of those over my head except it's a big egg with a caption that says "egg supply depleting rapidly" and some warning siren that goes along with it when I walk by.
Today, one of our faculty members came to visit at work with her one month old baby. I'm not going to lie, I do LOVE holding babies. I love the way the snuggle up to you, I love the way they smell and I love watching their facial expressions, trying to imagine what this world must look like to someone so small.
When I started holding the baby, there was no one in the faculty lounge but me and the mom. Within moments of the baby hand off, no less than five people came into the lounge (one of which I've never met before in my life) and every single one of them had a comment about me with the baby. "Wow, you look pretty comfortable with that baby." "She looks like a natural, doesn't she?" Oddly, the first person to make a comment was the man I've never met. How he even knows that I don't already have a child, beats the heck out of me.
So here is my question for you: Is there really such a thing as someone who "looks like a natural" while holding a baby, or is that just something people say to women who don't have children. Or maybe it's something people say to anyone who is holding a baby that isn't crying and doesn't look like they are in danger of dropping it.
And why do you think it's so important to people, including people I don't even know, that I have a baby soon? Is it simply because everyone, including me, likes holding babies so much so that they want people to keep having them and bringing them around so they can hold them? Or is it because in a world that can often be extremely negative and harsh, babies bring some joy and happiness?
I'm not even pregnant and yet, I can already envision these same people, even the guy I've never met before, coming up and rubbing my belly uninvited someday. Add that to the list of reasons why I'm not quite ready to have a child just yet.
Have you seen those Arby's commercials where they have the big logo over their head with the caption, "I'm thinking Arbys"? I can't help but feel like I've been walking around with one of those over my head except it's a big egg with a caption that says "egg supply depleting rapidly" and some warning siren that goes along with it when I walk by.
Today, one of our faculty members came to visit at work with her one month old baby. I'm not going to lie, I do LOVE holding babies. I love the way the snuggle up to you, I love the way they smell and I love watching their facial expressions, trying to imagine what this world must look like to someone so small.
When I started holding the baby, there was no one in the faculty lounge but me and the mom. Within moments of the baby hand off, no less than five people came into the lounge (one of which I've never met before in my life) and every single one of them had a comment about me with the baby. "Wow, you look pretty comfortable with that baby." "She looks like a natural, doesn't she?" Oddly, the first person to make a comment was the man I've never met. How he even knows that I don't already have a child, beats the heck out of me.
So here is my question for you: Is there really such a thing as someone who "looks like a natural" while holding a baby, or is that just something people say to women who don't have children. Or maybe it's something people say to anyone who is holding a baby that isn't crying and doesn't look like they are in danger of dropping it.
And why do you think it's so important to people, including people I don't even know, that I have a baby soon? Is it simply because everyone, including me, likes holding babies so much so that they want people to keep having them and bringing them around so they can hold them? Or is it because in a world that can often be extremely negative and harsh, babies bring some joy and happiness?
I'm not even pregnant and yet, I can already envision these same people, even the guy I've never met before, coming up and rubbing my belly uninvited someday. Add that to the list of reasons why I'm not quite ready to have a child just yet.
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