One of the experiences that I've had that's unique to being an expecting parent is the phenomenon of noticing every other expecting or already bechildrened person. For years, I counted myself among those who thought of children alternatively as a minor annoyance (pun!) or something worth paying no attention to whatsoever. Now, all of the sudden, I am curious as to who all of these parents and parents-to-be are. I want to know their stories. I want to know due dates. I want to know about services. I want to know their plans for the zombie apocalypse (well, actually that one's kind of ongoing, come to think of it).
I've noticed Lis is getting a lot of this now, too, from others. She tends to be a tad on the reserved side, but in the last month especially more and more people have been asking her very directly about the pregnancy. It's kind of funny, because at first she was oblivious to why suddenly everyone wanted to know how she was feeling. She's still adjusting to all the attention. Random chats aside, I also see her have these contented shared glances with other mothers. It's kind of cool. They're in the club. One day we ended up striking up a random conversation with a couple in the IKEA, because we both happened to be shopping in the crib aisle (a place that registered in my attention precisely zero times before that day).
When we see little ones on the bus or out for walks, it has taken on this whole new significance. Life is kind of amazing that way. Even though we can technically see and interact with any other person (except invisible people, of course), we all occupy these very different, concurrent realities at any given time. When I was a grad student, I barely had any awareness of what people with other lifestyles were doing. There were all of these people who worked at jobs for a living. Now, I can't remember what it's like... oh wait, I'm virtually unemployed. Regardless, it's amazing to me that we can all overlap on a daily basis and be so clueless as to what one another is up to.
I've noticed Lis is getting a lot of this now, too, from others. She tends to be a tad on the reserved side, but in the last month especially more and more people have been asking her very directly about the pregnancy. It's kind of funny, because at first she was oblivious to why suddenly everyone wanted to know how she was feeling. She's still adjusting to all the attention. Random chats aside, I also see her have these contented shared glances with other mothers. It's kind of cool. They're in the club. One day we ended up striking up a random conversation with a couple in the IKEA, because we both happened to be shopping in the crib aisle (a place that registered in my attention precisely zero times before that day).
When we see little ones on the bus or out for walks, it has taken on this whole new significance. Life is kind of amazing that way. Even though we can technically see and interact with any other person (except invisible people, of course), we all occupy these very different, concurrent realities at any given time. When I was a grad student, I barely had any awareness of what people with other lifestyles were doing. There were all of these people who worked at jobs for a living. Now, I can't remember what it's like... oh wait, I'm virtually unemployed. Regardless, it's amazing to me that we can all overlap on a daily basis and be so clueless as to what one another is up to.
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