The two most common questions I got while pregnant were “When are you due?” and “Do you know what you’re having?” (i.e. boy or girl).
The birth changed nothing, apparently. The two most common questions I get when I’m out with Ingrid are the same: “How old is she?” and “Is it a boy or a girl?”.
The third most common question (but far less frequent than the first two) is “Is she a good baby?”. I don’t like that question at all. I take it the asker wants to know whether she is easy to take care of – does she cry a lot, does she sleep all night, etc.
Firstly, I dislike the way this all gets summarised as “being a good baby”. Is the opposite an evil baby? a naughty, spiteful baby? She’s just a baby! Every baby is a good baby. If she cries, she does it because something is wrong, not because she is being bad and actively trying to make my life miserable.
Furthermore, I don’t understand what business it is of theirs! I get this question from total strangers – at the supermarket checkout till, on the bus, in the street… I’m pretty sure they don’t really want to hear me report on her nightly wakings. Do they secretly hope to hear that my baby is being “bad”, in order to gloat, or what?
I’ve been very tempted to reply “No, she’s totally evil, like the baby in The Omen, you know.” Thus far I’ve held my tongue and simply politely said “Yes”.
I can totally relate. I surely didn’t have a “perfect baby” and I couldn’t stand the question or those moms who would talk about their little angels who sleep all night and rarely make a fuss during the day. I still think they’re either high on Prozac or simply lying…
My wife got asked these sort of questions all the time it nearly drove her mad.