37/1 Part 2 (Female chauvinist pig?)

I am woman, hear me oink.

Why is it that an acquaintance whom I barely know (and would probably have not recognised her if we met on the street) is someone I can share the 'deep and meaningfuls' about pregnancy, bodily bits, sex, and the weirder bits of mumsyhood within a few minutes of discovering that she too is pregnant?

How weird is that!

Now balance THAT against the discomfort I experienced a whole 24 hours later when a MALE client opened a frank dialogue about my pregnancy, due date, yada yada yada! At no point did he get anywhere near as personal as the female client did, but to say I was extremely uncomfortable discussing the likelihood of episiotomies in modern births is understating it by a helluva lot.

To explain, the male client is the very much committed dad of an adorable toddler, and the conversation started out with him expressing gentle concern that I shouldn't rush back in to his office if I'm still recovering from the birth. What a lovely guy - he actually said "I can do the PAYE, Karl, and I'll tell them to wait on the GST for a week or two. It won't kill them."

Clients like this you just want to kiss (but his extremely pretty wife might object).

Anyhoo, when the conversation deepened into stitch discomfort, physical recovery and coping in hot weather, I went into definite "ick" mode, but at the same time, remembered the lavish detail and openness that I'd shared with other client just the day before, and slapped myself upside the head for being a hypocrite.

When I asked Wayne for his thoughts later, he responded saying "I'd have asked him how his prostate was", which pretty much sums up the male attitude to oversharing ;-)

How daft is this .. there I go, wailing about how men should step up and get involved in antenatal stuff, then when one (other than MINE) does show an interest, I run screaming.

Pass me some sunscreen for my red neck, will ya?