Invasion Of The Belly Touchers

Come on ladies, you know who they are. Or perhaps, you may even be one yourself. They come out of nowhere, usually not even making eye contact, as they make their move.....The Belly Touchers! This being my sixth pregnancy, I kind of have a lot of experience with them. Heck, I might even go so far as to say I'm an expert! Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE pregnant bellies! Pregnant women do have that glow about them and pregnant bellies make me smile. After all, there is a little life being incubated in there and I just think that is amazing! However, I would never invade anyone's personal space by reaching out to rub their pregnant belly! Sadly, not everyone can muster up the same restraint! I get that people are excited about the impending birth of a new life, but really, HANDS OFF!

This has been on my mind a lot this pregnancy, because it has been happening more frequently. Almost daily! A relative of my husband works within our school district. Everyday, when I am picking the kids up at school, I cautiously walk around the front of the building scoping out the situation. Who can I hide behind, don't move too quickly, Madelyn don't make a sound! We need to tiptoe into the building. But, inevitably, it happens! She runs, I mean it when I say, she runs to me, never looking up. Just straight for the kill, both hands stretched out as she rubs and shakes my belly. Bent over the entire time yelling, "Stella, how are you?" (as if to get some response from my sweet baby girl who is probably terribly frightened to come out!!!) Now mind you, there are probably about 30+ other parents there at the same time. It is so embarrassing! One day, I was sitting outside on a bench and she actually laid her head down on my lap to talk to the baby! AGHHHH! It's so ridiculous, at this point, even though I am embarrassed, I can't help but to laugh!

I was talking to my Mom about this a few days ago, because it was just about driving me crazy. We got a few chuckles about how strange it was for her to behave this way. I decided, it's almost over, I will just have to live with it for a little bit longer until our sweet baby girl makes her appearance. I guess I can do that. We then went into the grocery store where out of nowhere, the customer service girl walked up to me and grabbed my belly! Ugh!!! So, consider this a public service announcement,