Conversation with a teen at the reference desk:
Her: How many months you got?
Me: About seven.
Her: This your first one?
Me: Yup.
Her: Dang. It's gonna hurt.
**
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At our first birth class, the instructor mentioned that there was a sign-up sheet for anyone who wanted to bring pot-luck dinners to future classes. We could bring our own food if we wanted to, but wasn't it nicer to share, etc. Mr A and I declined, since we had signed up for the class under the assumption that as grown-ups, we would take care of our own nutritional needs.
This last class, though, she laid the potluck guilt on pretty thick. We were specifically instructed to sign up right now for the potluck, and not come to the next class with a full stomach. And really, wasn't it much, MUCH nicer to share?
Mr. A and I do not believe it is nicer to share. It's not that we have anything against sharing per se, but we both have full time jobs that end just about an hour before the class begins--enough time to pick up some food for ourselves, but not enough time to whip up a little something to feed the whole group. We chose this class specifically for its proximity to our workplaces, and going home in-between isn't an option. Plus, even if we made some giant platters of something in advance and somehow hauled them to work on the bus, where would we keep that stuff all day long while we're at work? And how could we reheat it?
Aside from all that, I just don't want to be responsible for feeding a room full of pregnant strangers. Everybody has different (not to say crazy) beliefs about what it is okay to eat while you're pregnant. I can just imagine some woman standing up and saying "Macaroni?! Don't you know that ingestion of noodles during the 3rd trimester has been shown to inhibit breastfeeding and cause colick in newborns? Are you trying to KILL US ALL?!"
So yeah, we still didn't sign up for the potluck. I'm assuming that we are now the pariahs of the class.
7 comments:
Hehe, good for you. Last time I went to a potluck with strangers, I got food poisoning. Just sayin'. Good call. At my pre-natal classes we just brought store-bought cookies and drank tea. Whew.
I say better to risk the scorn of people you'll never see again than risk food poisoning or a lecture.
Maybe she is just playing a psychological game with the class whereby she is trying to desensitize you to all of the similar pressures you will inevitably face at your kid's preschool/team sport/art class?
Or maybe she's just bossy.
I hate those right-after-work potluck things, too. It's great if you have the time, but it takes me about an hour to get home- and if I leave a little early, I might have time to stop by the store and buy some Lofthouse cookies. Just stock up on those- pregnant women love them ;) Sorry, though- that does suck :(
Dang.
I just came across your blog by hitting "next blog" "next blog" "next blog"....man, are there a lot of crappy blogs out there! But yours is fab. I'll be checking in. I'm a mom of a 9 and 6 year old, and it is so much more fun reminiscing about the pregnancy days than it is reading blogs about kids that are much, much better than yours, and/or moms that are much, much better than you. Then again, reading blogs with moms and kids going through the same type of crud you are going through this very moment isn't all that much fun either. So, mind if I lurk here for a while? (I like the library angle too. I was an English major and am now a researcher.... so kinda close, right?) --ARB
Welcome, ARB! No need to worry about reading about people who are better than you here--I am well below average.
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