Awareness & Attention

Ever since I got pregnant and given birth, I have a greater awareness of pregnant ladies and mothers with small babies on the streets. That's expected of course, considering I myself had gone through those days of being stared at by dozens of women because of my swelling tummies, and endless days of wishing that incorrigible young man would get up from his seat to offer his seat to ME on the MRT, instead of pretending to sleep. During my pregnancy, this issue of manhood totally disillusioned me.

Now that Joey is out, whenever we bring her out, we will attract lots of stares and attention. People rush to open doors for us seeing that I am carrying a baby with no free hands. When I walk into a restaurant, strangers will smile at me and joey from the corner they are sitting at, as if congratulating me for owning such a darling. When I am strolling along Orchard Road, I would hear whispers of 'oh, so cute!' by giggling students walking past us. Even taxi drivers have become more patient with us. It's amazing what a little thing like joey can do to people.

And mothers & fathers with small babies will look us up & down and then probably think to themselves that their babies are way, way cuter. I know that cos at the same time, I was also thinking to myself that my joey's way, way cuter than their babies. Haha..

The common comments that Joey receive when people see her no matter for the first time or for the umpteenth time would be one of the following two:

a) Oh! She got so much hair!

or

b) Oh! She's so tall! Just like her papa!

Trust me, really no other comments. And each time, I would go.. ya ya..haha.. alot of hair.. very tall baby... haha..

Nowadays, due to her ever-flourishing and standing-tall hair, the hair comment has been modified to.. 'Oh.. look at her hair.. all standing up!'.. yeh yeh..

I am looking forward to newer comments... come on people, be creative.. :)

One of the items on my wish list now is for her hair to come down from their standing position so that I can tie some cute ribbon or clip on it. Better start thinking of more ways to dress her so that she can catch on more feminism.

Talking about that, I am full of frustration air inside of me! I know it's hard to tell the gender of a baby especially when they all look alike for the first few months. But come on! Shall we practise some discretion & discerning over here??!

When joey's dressed in pink cap, pink top, pink dress, pink socks and wrapped in pink blanket, why do you want to insist on asking me the same question I've heard 15,000 times, "Girl or boy ah?" Aiyoh! Colour-blind issit?? Or do I look like a sadist mother who will dress her son in pink overalls?? X@#*^&^#@! But of course, each time I would nicely reply, 'Girl.' and give my biggest smile possible.

That was not the worst. Last week I dressed Joey in an yellow Precious Moments overalls and brought her to church. Because there was no more pink on her, someone just asked me outrightly, 'How old is your son?' X@#*^&^#@ again! Please!! In situations like these, you should just ask politely, 'Oh.. is it a son or a daughter?' *faintz* God, send down your spirit of discerning.

So you see, this task of making her more feminine is very crucial. How about this? :)