Strangers soliciting opinion on sex of baby

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That happened to me all the time. I knew I was having a girl but strangers routinely stopped me and said, "Girl, right?" I liked it. I like that being pregnant makes people friendly toward you -- most people get excited over a new baby, even a stranger's new baby. I think it's sweet. And, I hate to tell you, but there is nothing "covert" about a 36-week pregnant belly, so it's not like they're sneaking glances...

That's how I was, I actually liked the friendly attention.

However, all women are different and I do get OP's annoyance at this. I guess I'd try to put it in perspective. It's not as bad as people coming up and touching your belly all the time. I HATED that. Grr.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That happened to me all the time. I knew I was having a girl but strangers routinely stopped me and said, "Girl, right?" I liked it. I like that being pregnant makes people friendly toward you -- most people get excited over a new baby, even a stranger's new baby. I think it's sweet. And, I hate to tell you, but there is nothing "covert" about a 36-week pregnant belly, so it's not like they're sneaking glances...

That's how I was, I actually liked the friendly attention.

However, all women are different and I do get OP's annoyance at this. I guess I'd try to put it in perspective. It's not as bad as people coming up and touching your belly all the time. I HATED that. Grr.

That just happened to me for the first time! (5 months). I didn't want to hijack this thread so I started a new post about it. So odd!

[Anonymous]

I LOVE the attention and the guessing. DH and I don't know the gender of the baby and won't find out until delivery day. I've had a difficult pregnancy and w/ a lot of monitoring. I think it's wonderful how people yearn to connect with the "person" inside of me and I enjoy the speculation...even by strangers. Everyone is different, though, and I can understand why some women might want more privacy and less gawking. I figure as soon as the baby is old enough to not be super cute the attention will fade. I'll take the communal love while I can get it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You know, it's possible that these strangers are just trying to make pleasant conversation. Things like pregnant bellies or little dogs give people an opening to chat. I moved here from a much friendlier place and actually appreciate the interest.

But if you're this stressed out over people guessing gender, just wait until you have your babiees. The advice, cooing, and questions will be never-ending.

This made me think of 2 things.....first, is that I have a miniature poodle and I wish I had a dime for every time someone stopped me on the street to tell me how they had a dog just like mine when they were a kid. On the one hand, it can get kind of annoying. But, I try to think of the fond memories my dog is bringing to them and understand that they are only trying to share their warm feelings with me.

Second, when you find yourself getting annoyed by these chatty people, maybe take a second to remember that they are aware that you are pregnant and being friendly towards you as a result. These are the same people who, you would hope, would offer you their seat on the bus/metro when they see that you are pregnant and/or would offer a hand if you fell down on the street (it happens to the best of us). I hear so many stories about mean people in DC who will ignore a person who has fallen (and go to the trouble of stepping over them if they happened to fall on a metro escalator) and/or ignore a person on the street who is obviously in need. While it may be annoying that the things these people choose to be chatty about feel invasive, or intrusive. I think it's helpful to put it into perspective and be glad that there are a few folks here in DC who want to try to be neighborly.

[Anonymous]

This made me think of 2 things.....first, is that I have a miniature poodle and I wish I had a dime for every time someone stopped me on the street to tell me how they had a dog just like mine when they were a kid. On the one hand, it can get kind of annoying. But, I try to think of the fond memories my dog is bringing to them and understand that they are only trying to share their warm feelings with me.

I had a miniature poodle when I was a kid and I do have lots of fond memories of him. Aw. (I probably wouldn't stop you to tell you that, but I would want to!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

This made me think of 2 things.....first, is that I have a miniature poodle and I wish I had a dime for every time someone stopped me on the street to tell me how they had a dog just like mine when they were a kid. On the one hand, it can get kind of annoying. But, I try to think of the fond memories my dog is bringing to them and understand that they are only trying to share their warm feelings with me.

I had a miniature poodle when I was a kid and I do have lots of fond memories of him. Aw. (I probably wouldn't stop you to tell you that, but I would want to!)

The dog posts do put things in perspective a little bit. We have a very cute dog, he's a medium sized red Brittany Spaniel mix and everywhere we go people try to figure out what kind of dog he is (he looks like a baby Irish Setter). Nine times out of ten we are tickled by the attention our dog gets but every once in a while you get someone who just rubs you the wrong way and says "Irish Setter" and that gets annoying. I think it's the know-it-all aspect that I find irritating, or maybe it's just a personality thing.

On the other hand, I'm a notorious dog-petter (I always ask permission) so maybe this is a bit similar to baby chatting. Some people just want to go about their day without chatting to strangers. I have no problem with that, either (though I think their dogs might prefer a pat). I'm going to try to be very nice about all of the guessing and baby chatting as long as people are being friendly about it and not just weird.

[Anonymous]

Just think of it this way: the gender-guessing is more pleasant than when a guy said really loudly to me, "WHOA. Twins?" Uh, no. Just one. Thanks, though, buddy!