My wife Jenni is at the halfway point of her pregnancy. I’ve noticed a couple of things: her ‘baby bump’ continues to grow more everyday… and her emotions are running high. The two are tied together because it seems quite a few people, even total strangers, want to rub her belly! Now it’s one thing if a pregnant woman says, “Here, feel my stomach and see if you can feel the baby kicking”. But it’s pretty creepy when someone sees that a woman is pregnant and thinks that’s an open invitation to grope her!
A couple of weeks ago, Jenni told me that more and more people were wanting to touch her stomach, and that she was getting annoyed. I said, “Honey, they’re just excited for you!”. She gave me “the look” that I’ve become all to familiar with lately, and said, “Greg, I’m not a lamp with a genie inside, and besides, would you want total strangers just groping you?!” I raised my eyebrows and smiled, but quickly realized she was in no mood for my childish humor. (It’s like walking in a minefield with her! I have to watch every step!)
Over the last week I’ve counted the number of family members and yes, even distant acquaintances and strangers, who have made a grab for my wife’s ‘bump’. She wasn’t kidding! 90% of these people didn’t ask, “oh, can I feel the baby?”…no, they went straight at her like a pinata! We were at a restaurant one night and my wife spotted an old friend she hadn’t seen in years. When introductions were being made, the friend’s husband reached over and rubbed Jenni’s stomach and said, “looks like you’re eating for two!”. Now I’ve put my foot in my mouth a few times with Jenni, but when this clown said that, I could hear alarms going off! “EVERYBODY RUN FOR IT!…THIS GUY IS TOAST!!” Jenni politely stepped back, but I knew if she had a taser gun, she would have dropped that guy like a sack of potatoes!
So my public service announcement this week is to NEVER touch, grope, pat, rub, or put your hear to a pregnant woman’s belly. Even if you think it would be cute, don’t do it if you value your life. Simply tell her she looks amazing~
