(Click on the cartoon to see it better). :)
My friend Kim is having a baby! I'm very excited for her!
I want to hear all about what it feels like to be pregnant and how she feels about it. As her belly grows, I want to feel the baby kick and make a plaster cast of her growing tummy. I will mull over baby names. I will probably plan a baby shower, but a cool one where you gives gifts to the new mother like spa treatments and massage oil and the like. (Because she deserves it, as she's willing to go through all the chaos of giving birth and raising a child!) She has said to me she's worried I will grow tired of her tales of morning sickness but I won't. Because I'm happy for her.
And happy it's NOT me having the baby. I belong to the ranks of the cheerfully child-free.
I'm living vicariously through my friends who are reproducing and raising families. As I move further into my thirties, they are starting to outnumber my friends who do NOT have children. I am not tempted to join them though. I have seen a lot of joy and happiness but also a lot of hard work and frustration and even depression. It's a full-time job raising children and it's for life.
For ten years I've worked with children in day-cares and preschools and I've met a lot of wonderful little people. (Also a lot of children who are a lot LESS than wonderful). But no matter how delightful they are, I am always glad they go home to their own families at the end of a busy afternoon. It's so nice and QUIET at home. Sigh. Bliss.
In my household we can make dinner without worrying about the square-mealedness of it or whether we're spending too much money on deli food. We can watch movies and turn on the evening news without having to prescreen it for things that may warp young minds.We can go on long trips across the world and only need to find a baby-sitter for the cats.
I'm glad you are pregnant, Kim. I know you have wanted this for a long time. But whew, those Baby-Away pills I take are worth their weight in gold to me. :)
3 comments:
LOVE that cartoon!
It took me awhile to read the comic (little type + bad eyesight = squinting) and when I did, I was suddenly seized with absolute, unmitigated terror. AAAAEEEIIIIIYYAAAAAAAAAAA!
It took Shawn a few hours to talk me out of my all-consuming fear, in which I stared at the wall, catatonic, and muttered about my imminent loss of freedom as I rocked back and forth, clutching my knees to my chest. But I think I'm okay now. *whimper whimper*
Moral of the story: There is great power in comics. Don't ever let them tell you otherwise. There ain't nothin' funny 'bout them funny pages.... :)
Oh dear.. I AM a bad friend. :)
I've had that cartoon stored in my computer because I've had friends PITY my childless state ("You'd make SUCH a good mother though!" they exclaim)so I look at it once in a while for a giggle. But, seriously, Nish, you're going to love this kid and I really DO think you have a radiant glow an' all. Besides, children are good chaos therapy. :)
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