The World Through Pink and Blue Colored Glasses

One thing they don't tell you when you join the club is that you don't really have to wait nine months to start seeing the world a little differently. I suppose it's all part of the "nesting" process and I'm guessing gets more pronounced as more time passes. It was two specific events that made me aware of this change.

The first happened while I was out. Like a good teacher, I went to a school play last Friday night. One of my favorite students was in the play. (Yes, I have favorites. This now worries me too...what if I have favorite children? This can do serious damage to a child's self-esteem. Ask my sister.) But anyway, when I came home from the play, DH tells me:
"About 20 minutes ago, some guy came to our door. He was swaying and slurring a bit and launched into some story about how his girlfriend got into some fight and needed $60 to give to the police or something. He said he was our neighbor from Codfish Hill Road. So he asked if he could borrow $60. I told him I was sorry for his troubles but didn't have any cash on me. The guy says he understands but what if he drove me to an ATM so I could get money. He said he would leave his license with me - like as a form of collateral."

So I start with twenty questions. Was he drunk? How did he get here? Was he belligerent? Do you think he was alone?

Apparently he clearly had been drinking but was very understanding when George said no. He came in a car but George couldn't see if he drove himself or there was a driver.

Now, normally, I would think this story is weird and slightly creepy but would chalk it up to a good story to blog about. But with Baby Avery on the way, it was weird, very creepy and made me think of every bad horror movie plot line I could come up with. He was a mass murder and just looking to case the joint. He was a robber and wanted to get the layout of the house. He was some child predator and wanted to see if we had any kids. Who knows? But I can't be having random strangers attempting to get access to the estate. So, after careful debate: Are we over-reacting? Are we under-reacting? Are we going to be alive in the morning? We called the police.

You gotta love small towns. George calls the police and explains the story. The officer asks him what the guy looked like and as George is describing him, the cop says, "I think I know the guy you are talking about. I'll tell my patrolmen to have a talk with him if they see him." So, we felt more comfortable going to sleep but now I think we have to start looking into alarm systems. Who knows what can happen in these rural areas?

The second incident deals with a slightly different clientele: the First Family. Michelle Obama was recently criticized for saying that she put her children on a diet after a visit to the doctor. This was at some talk where she was addressing childhood obesity. She went on to say that she was changing her children's diet to be more healthy, more natural and less processed. Eating disorder spokespeople were outraged. What message does this send to tween girls? I get that eating disorders are a serious and growing problem. I work at a high school. But the issue was childhood obesity which is just as big of a problem. And kids - Americans in general - have terrible eating habits. Regardless of which end of the spectrum you see this from, the anorexic or the obese, clearly we need to talk about our relationship with food - whether you're the First lady, a future parent or a nutritionist. People need to stop being so critical.

But again, none of this would have been all that noteworthy to me a few months ago but now, I have Baby Avery to think of.

All of these pregnancy magazines and websites have countless pages devoted to nutrition. I like to be healthy. I eat well. But what I eat has never been something I really spend a ton of time thinking about. I operated on the idea that fruits, vegetables and fish are good and fat and sugars are bad. Now, I find myself thinking about everything I put in my mouth. I don't know if this is good or bad. But it's different. What if baby isn't get enough Omega-3s? What if I have too much iron? Did I eat enough protein? Can I eat this? I'm certain my mother did not ask these questions and I turned out fine. But I don't want to have to put my baby on a diet or worry that they are developing an eating disorder. Are we doing more harm by obsessing about food or more good? For every website that tells you to eat up, there is another to tell you you're not really eating for two. Veteran club members don't seem to worry about it too much so I'm hoping this is just new member worries and goes away. After all, all this worry can't be good for junior.