Thursday, May 2, 2013

Everyone has an opinion

Since I started telling people that I am pregnant, everyone suddenly has an opinion. I had heard that it happens and that suddenly people think they should/can tell you what they think about the little life growing inside of you, but I have to say I didn't expect people to be so blunt about their opinions.

In the past few weeks, now that it is more obvious that I am pregnant, several people have asked me what the sex of the baby is. When I tell them that we have decided to have a surprise, I've gotten some surprising responses. Several people have told me that that is "stupid" or "lame".


Really??? Did I ask what you thought about it? Do you really want to piss off a pregnant woman?

Love this!! via
 We have our reasons for wanting it to be a surprise. We didn't just decide that out of nowhere. It doesn't mean we don't care. It's also not up for discussion so your opinion isn't going to change our decision.

When it comes to pregnancy, I am relatively conservative. I don't want to know the sex until the day I meet the baby. I don't want to name the baby until I see him/her. I don't want to share our ideas for names with people either because, well, people love expressing their opinions about name choices too.

At the same time though, if another couple wants to find out the sex of their baby and name the baby the day they find out and tell everyone the name, that's their choice. I wouldn't make that choice, but that doesn't mean it isn't right for them. Or that it's "stupid" or "lame".
 
What is it about pregnancy (and, my friend pointed out, weddings) that makes people think they can freely share their negative opinions about your choices?

5 comments:

Sarah said...

I've noticed the same thing since I've been pregnant. While we did change our minds and decide to find out, after initially thinking we wouldn't, we don't want to share anything other than the gender. People are surprised when I tell them that we're not sharing names or too many other details. They also have lots of opinions about everything. Someone yesterday even told me how she couldn't believe how swollen my feet were. I have wide feet that aren't swollen. Awesome. Hang in there, girl. Try not to come up with mean things to say in your head, like I am :)

J9 said...

You're so right. And I remember how it made me nuts when people I didn't even know felt so free to touch my pregnant belly!

k8te said...

yes, yes, yes! i am the same way, and wouldn't want to find out the sex OR tell ppl the name either. mind your own business, people!! just ignore those busybody peeps. i think it's much cooler to NOT find out!

TheTinyHeart said...

Ugh, people can be so rude! I don't know why they feel the need to put their 2 cents in. Hang in there, Erin! Or come up with a snarky comeback line :)

-Sharon
The Tiny Heart

undomestic mama said...

I've written a whole post on this. The people who pissed me off the most were B's family because although we didn't share names, I shared names we liked and when I got to Ethan (which we used) his sister said, "Oh no, don't do Ethan. There's a bunch of kids named Ethan in Faye's school. I like the name Finn." I'm sorry, but your daughters are named Faye and Calif (kay-liff) and I'm not naming my child after fish parts. It's a cute name for some people but the name Finn is just not "us." And I totally ranted because this totally took me back, sorry. The thing I hear now is "Oh twins, cool that you got it done in one shot." And then they're shocked when I say I'm not done and I feel like I have to justify myself. People need to shut it. Seriously. Once your baby is here, you'll get opinions on feeding, diapering, etc. It NEVER ends unfortunately. And this comment was a total downer. Sorry.