Andrea’s Weblog

Men are trained from a very young age not to comment on a woman’s weight. When confronted with an obviously pregnant woman, this seems to cause a social dilemma. Do you ogle the belly, ignore it, comment on how large it is, comment on how large the woman is? What do you do? It has been my observation that single men, who don’t have first hand experience with pregnant bellies, choose to ignore the belly. They usually opt for sneaking glances at the belly without saying anything. To me this seems a bit like trying to ignore a screaming toddler in a library, but I understand their dilemma.

A few men have broken the barrier and commented on the belly. The other day, the guy at the auto parts store says to me “gotta boy in dair?” It took me a bit to figure out that he was taking a gander at our baby’s sex. Then there was the guy selling plants who starts off a conversation saying “hey, you got a bun in the oven.” This wasn’t exactly news to me.

So what are some acceptable things to say to a pregnant chick? I should start out by saying that it’s taken a lot of work to get a belly this size, so comments on how big it is are fine. Note that the focus of comments should only be on the belly area (where it’s the baby’s fault). Please avoid commenting on the growing butt and thigh regions. Also, I wouldn’t go overboard by saying “dang, you’re enormous!”

Guys can always follow the example of the many women who have said to me “you’re looking great, how far along are you?”