Julie and I are doing our best not to become smug new parents when talking to our childless friends. Everybody knows those incorrigible folks whose child causes them to feel superior to everyone.
"You two don't know what you're missing," they say in unison. "We used to be just like you, taking trips, going to nice restaurants, but now our lives are just so much more enriched." At a social gathering, they won't even ask you about your job or favorite hobbies, so convinced they are that stories of children, particularly theirs, trump everything. "I hope someday you're as blessed as we are," they say with pity.
Oh, and then they send the Christmas form letter with news like, "God really touched Bob's golf game this year!!" and "The new addition we built pushed our house over the 3,000-square-feet mark, praise God!!!"
I'm not talking about you or your spouse, by the way. Seriously, no sarcasm, you're both great. But you know who I'm talking about.
I do write a blog devoted to my daughter, though, so maybe I'm just as guilty. I'll try to keep it real and not let this thing turn into "Oh you wouldn't believe the cute thing Lyla did today! Everyone, look! Bask in her cuteness! Lavish us with admiration!"
No, I'd rather write about how yesterday I went through three shirts because I still can't remember to use the burp cloth, or about how Lyla's dirty diapers are starting to resemble Rorschach mustard blots.
2 comments:
I'm totally inline with your thinking. When I ask someone a question like, "How have you been doing?" I'm not looking for a diatribe about the goings-on of your child. Really, I don't care they got an "E" on their latest round of spelling tests that featured some hard words like "humor" that you "can't even spell some days."
Frankly, I don't answer about my own child unless specifically asked. Occasionally there will be a mention when asked questions like, "You look like crap. You tired?" I will answer like, "Yeah... Anja was awake all night."
If I ever start raving about my child unprovoked then please, stop me.
here's the thing, I used to not give a crap about people's dog stories now Sophie is my favorite topic of conversation. Just because we childless couples do not understand now doesn't mean we won't someday. Then it is simply payback time!
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