I’m an idiot

by shirtyherself

Yep, I’m an idiot. Why? Well, we’re having Christmas at our house tomorrow.  See, I declined my mother’s offer of our usual Christmas lunch by the beach because I’m rather pregnant, it’s always crowded (don’t like crowds, but especially not while preggers), and there’s always a long walk (well, more of a painful waddle, now) from where we eventually find a carpark. I suggested that it would be so much nicer if both families join us at our house.  I thought to myself “you clever woman, now you don’t have to go anywhere! Make them come to YOU!” So, they are…and in my hurry to pat myself on the back for getting out of going out, I seem to have forgotten that it’s a lot more work to have family over for lunch. Guess who gets to clean in preparation, organise enough seating and prepare the food? Me! M is on nightshift at the moment, and doesn’t finish until Christmas morning, so his days are spent sleeping, otherwise he’d be able to help.  So, I’m taking a break (cleaning while pregnant is EXHAUSTING!) for a bit of a whinge. 

Tomorrow’s guest list is: my mum, my stepdad (N2), my pregnant sister (N), her fiancee (S), my 5-year-old nephew (H), my stepsister (M2), M’s dad (G) and M’s aunt/stepmother (V).  I’m nervous about this guest list, actually.  My mum, stepdad and M’s dad and aunt have met once before – mum and G got along brilliantly, while stepdad and aunt sat back and didn’t contribute to the conversation.  So, that will be awkward if the two of them don’t say anything. My sister has never met them before and has only met M once but she has always been incredibly impolite when I’ve introduced her to people – she’s actually grunted as a form of greeting before! I don’t really know my future brother-in-law very well, but from what I’ve seen he’s not much of a talker, either. I don’t know my stepsister well but I know she’s capable of conversation, so that’s good! M’s dad will most likely repeat stories he’s already told and make numerous mentions to his late wife (M’s mother, who passed away over 10 years ago), which always manages to bring the mood down a tad. Also, I’ll be spending all day trying to protect my baby belly from being touched by M’s Aunt V, who has never actually asked permission to touch it and manages to do it with ninja-like swiftness that I don’t even know she’s done it until after.  Once, after an unsolicited touch, on the way to meeting her another time,  I said to M “I’ll just put my hands over my belly or cover it with my handbag, that should show that it’s a no-go zone.” It worked, until she shocked me by hugging me for the first time ever and shot out her hand as we parted, finding her target. Ugh. I’ll never understand why people think it’s ok to grab a pregnant belly, especially without asking. If I saw her on a regular basis I’d definitely put a stop to it, but with only a few weeks left and probably not seeing G and V often until bubs is born I may have to pick my battles – and a family lunch is not the best place to do it.

To cut a long story short, I anticipate many, many awkward moments of silence and I expect to be pissed off at some point. Probably by V.

Wow, my words are boring the shit outta me. I think it’s time for a more exciting topic or back to cleaning.  I promise my posts won’t always be this dull and whingey.