Hey You, Back Off of My Kid

One of the most annoying things about being pregnant is the inexplicable erasure of certain boundaries. I worked in the courts while pregnant and saw a lot of people everyday, especially during daily rides in a packed elevator to the 10th floor. If I had a nickel for every time someone -- a total stranger -- asked a personal question about my body, my due date, or my family history, I would have a nice nest egg for Jericho's college fund. At first I didn't mind it. Not from older ladies who were polite and certainly meant well. "When are you due?" they would ask. "Looks like you're carrying a boy. Your belly looks just like a football (or basketball)." That was fine, even kind of sweet. But after the 100th time, it got old.

And I never liked the men who would say things like, "Wow! Looks like you're ready to pop!" Or the lawyer who gave me a running history of his sex life with "pregnant women," namely his wife, due to the fact that they have 7 kids. Or the coworkers who would shout across the hall, "Oh my God!" and point to my belly as I got huge. Or posit, "You look really uncomfortable."

"Back the fuck off!" I wanted to say so many times, but didn't. Instead, I just smiled and attempted to extract myself from the scrutiny as quickly a possible. I guess because childbearing is such a powerful experience -- and one that so many people share -- the impulse to ask about it overcomes social barriers.

I had done the same with other pregnant women, in the past, saying something that I thought was interesting or original about her growing belly or my own experience being pregnant (the first time, back in the '80s). I now realize that any comment one can make is completely unoriginal, and that a pregnant woman has probably already heard versions of it 10 times that very day. I will keep my mouth shut in the future. Hear this loud and clear: The best gift you can give a pregnant woman is to say nothing about her belly. JUST IGNORE IT, and give the poor woman some peace.

Now that Jericho is out, I still get comments. But the social boundaries seem to be reestablishing themselves. "How old is your baby?" is the one most often heard. People also tend to ask, "Is it your first?"

I don't know why people ask this. They asked it when I was pregnant as well. Do I look like a first-time mother at 46? And this question always put me in a tizzy because I never know how to answer it.

Sometimes, I just say, "No, it's my second." That seems to satisfy them. But most times, I feel the need to add, in the interest of full disclosure, "No it's my second, but the first was a long time ago." Why do I need to say this? I don't know. I should just let it go. But I can't seem to.

Maybe I think I owe it to them. Maybe I have a deep-seated desire to be a carnival sideshow. I don't know. But once I disclose that I do have another child, but that child is now 24 and one-half years old, that usually stops the conversation.