Stating the Obvious

It seems to me lately that the impending birth of one's child is a topic of conversation that has a lot in common with talking about the weather. Everyone knows when it is too cold or too cold and can easily tell when the rain is falling on their head, but there is almost always someone in any given group of people that must point out that water is falling from the sky, revealing the mysterious reason as to why you are getting wet.

Similarly, when you're going to become a parent, there seem to be those who like to tell you that you're not going to get much sleep once the baby is born. Because apparently most new parents-to-be are never aware that babies need a great deal of care and have never heard that they need to be fed even at night. People keep telling me things like, "You'd better get used to not sleeping because that baby's not going to let you rest one bit." Is that really meant to be advice? How is that helpful? Even people that don't have children seem to be knowledgeable on the subject and feel the need to "help me out" as such.

What would we do without someone to inform us of those things that we are already aware of?

As annoying as this bit of human nature is to me, it is even worse when the non-pregnant populace is addressing pregnant women. Whether a woman is expecting or not, she doesn't want to be told she's "getting big." This should really be common knowledge, but it's a fact that seems to be lost on far too many people. Somehow rules of etiquette go out the door to them when they encounter a woman with a little one in her belly, and they absolutely must say the first thing that pops into their head. Believe you me, my wife is constantly aware that she is pregnant and doesn't need to be reminded. Comments like "You must be ready to pop!" or "Boy, you sure are pregnant!" are not going to be appreciated by any expecting female. If you think they are, then you deserve what's coming to you.