Are There No Boundaries?

It seems as though there is something in the water in the US.  Everyone is married, getting married, or getting pregnant.  And by “everyone,” I really mean lots and lots of my friends.  Within the last two months I have heard of five engagements and three pregnancies.  And I am not counting the engagement or pregnancy announcements that happened more than two months ago!  That is a lot at the age of 24.

I am in no way ready to be engaged, married, or have a child.  (Two of my friends are on their second child... yikes!)  But someday, I do want to be married and have kids.  And every single time I say that, I hear Grandma in my head saying, “well, Meaghan, you have to have a boyfriend before you can even think about a family!”  Yes, Grandma, I hear you loud and clear.  

For now, I see all of my friends’ experiences as the perfect opportunity for me to judge, sorry, I mean learn.  This is the perfect opportunity for me to learn.  As far as weddings go, I can already list a thousand things I will and will not do, have, and expect.  But lately, it is the pregnancies that have been driving me crazy.

What is with all of the tummy pics on facebook?  Are there no boundaries?  Just because we are facebook friends, does not mean I want to see a brand new photo of your bare burgeoning belly every day and half.  If you take the photos, good for you, make a scrapbook.  Show them to your best friends, your parents, even random people on the street, but don’t make them pop up on my news feed!  Weird.

And then there are the “gender cakes.”  As a person that dreams of opening a bakery, I solemnly swear to NEVER offer gender cakes.  For those of you that don’t know, they are the newest fad with baby showers.  They are cakes covered with question marks, pink, blue, and phrases such as “it’s a ....?”  When you cut the cake, you find the answer to the question!  The cake and/or the frosting is dyed pink or blue, depending on the sex of your child.  A fun little game for your shower guests?  Eh, not so much.  I just think it’s tacky.  

Some couples take it a step further.  I have seen a few couples go as far as to have the doctor place a letter, stating the gender of the baby, in a sealed envelope.  The couple then goes to the bakery and orders a gender cake, based on the results in the envelope.  The couple doesn’t know what was in the envelope, and receives the results with a gaudy piece of colored cake with their guests.

There are plenty of silly customs and games that go along with pregnancy, but these are two that I will steer clear of.  And yes, Grandma, I know I have to find a boyfriend first.