Throughout my pregnancy, people who have had children before (and a few who haven't) have been giving me ceaseless heaps of advice. As much as I appreciate the tidbits of information offered to me, sometimes I just want to say, "Quit telling me what to do!"
Good advice:
"Make sure you never run out of wipes. They're not something you want to get caught without."
Not-so-great:
"Here's what you should do to take care of that weight..."
It seems to me that everyone has an opinion on my pregnancy and parenting methods. For a long time, I was hesitant to tell anyone what I wanted to name my daughter because people always want to give their unsolicited evaluation. Luckily, we've picked out a name that seems to be unanimously liked, but honestly, I wouldn't really care if no one liked it at all. She's not their daughter.
I may be coming off as spiteful, but I've been listening to people tell me what I SHOULD do for about nine months now. Like I said, I'm more than happy to accept productive pieces of advice, especially from people who have been around the baby block before. But seriously, I really don't care to feel judged by friends and aquaintances who aren't even close to having kids.
I honestly believe that there is a form of etiquette necessary to giving advice. Pregnant women do not want to hear the words "You should" from anyone except their doctors. So here is my advice to the advice-givers:
You can sneak it in there, but be subtle. Start the sentence with "I recently heard that..." or "Have you considered..." Don't assume that you know every detail about everything. Pregnant women and new parents are scared and chin-deep in an intense learning process, and everybody has their own style.
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