I am Not Buddah

I have been struggling for quite some time on whether or not I'd blog about this. I went back and forth because I know that it could possibly come across as being rude or offensive...but, today, I am just not worried about that.



Remember when you were a kid and you walked into a Chinese restaurant where Buddah's statue greeted you in the doorway? Remember how you were told that if you rubbed Buddah's belly it would bring you good luck? Let me just tell you - pregnant women are not Buddah. Rubbing a pregnant belly will not bring you any sort of luck, so you can stop trying now.



I do realize that I have the privilege of feeling William every day now, and when people see me they just want to share in that. I get that. But let me ask you this: Would you like to share in my pain on Feb 21 (ish) when I give birth? Cause if not, I don't think I have to share this with you - it only seems fair that I get the perk since I'm the one doing the work.

Now - if you are just SO moved by the sight of a round pregnant belly and you want to touch it out of love, please remember that you are in fact invading a woman's personal space - so asking permission MIGHT make the move a little easier. I have nearly swatted away the hands of people that I like - I don't want to be rude, I don't want to catch anyone off guard or do any physical damage - really I don't. But I don't typically invite people to invade my space and touch me whenever/wherever they please without warning, so a little fore-warning might be helpful. Should you ask, I might be inclined to say ok. However, if we are together for 2 hours, one "touch" is sufficient - let me assure you. You don't need to rub Buddah for good luck 10 times in one conversation, you'll just end up rubbing off bad luck and probably get smacked across the face. And, let me also make a quick note: there is a difference in TOUCHING and RUBBING. A quick little touch on the stomach as you greet me (after you've asked, as we already covered) is one thing. Rubbing my belly like a genie will pop out and grant you 3 wishes - that's another thing. And KISSING? Let's not go there.

My mom is especially bothered by my disdain for the rubbing of my belly. She seems to think its something I just "have to get used to" I don't think so. I think an easy way to make people stop would be for me to return to favor; anytime someone rubs my belly I'll rub theirs right back. People will quickly learn that your stomach is probably one of the LAST places you'd like to be touched, if you'd like to be touched at all, and maybe people would be so turned off by my reaction that they'd quit. And, if not, at least I have something to do back to them besides slap them :)

My mom also has expressed concern that I won't "allow" Austin to touch my stomach - so I had to let her know that no, Austin is in fact allowed. It is his child too, and he will be there Feb 21 also experiencing pain of his own (granted not to the degree of mine, but I can squeeze pretty tightly...) so he has earned the belly-rights. He generally scratches my stomach in the morning to say good morning to William, and he kisses it at night to say goodnight. He might touch it at some other point in the day too - that just depends. A little over a week ago when I started to feel William kicking for the first time Austin was playing with him. Austin couldn't feel him move so I'd tell him where William was moving, Austin would push back at him and talk to him, and then William would kick back. It was pretty precious, and Austin loved feeling like he was already playing with his son. He has also laid his iPhone on my belly while playing country music, as we read that at this stage William can now hear and distinguish different types of music. So, see, I do allow him to partake in the joy...I just don't think everyone at my work needs to join in with us. They won't be there when he's born, they certainly weren't there when he was conceived, so do they REALLY need to be a part of this? I don't know - make your own judgements I suppose.

I'm sure this is first of MANY opinions/choices I will make as a parent (probably not even the first actually) that will make people think I'm crazy or I've done something wrong. Oh well, that's how it goes. I'm sure I'll make lots of parental choices that are wrong, lots that I think are right but you may think are wrong, and overall I'll probably make some hands-down correct calls along the way. I can tell you that, if you haven't already had your children, I will not touch your stomach without asking you...you might think that's weird of me, and you might not care that I ask...but I will because I will remember how odd this belly-situation is.

I'll get off this soapbox now and let you all cast your judgements - really, I don't mind.