The Peanut Gallery

Another symbolic dream (remember Big Friggin Babies): I was at a restaurant and ordered blueberry pancakes, my favorite.  The waiter brought out the pancakes with a bowl of blueberries, which was apparently to my specification.  I was about to scoop up some delightful little berries when the waiter quickly grabbed the bowl off the table and berated me for trying to eat them.  I was beside myself.  What the hell was he doing?  He was beside himself.  How dare I eat blueberries while pregnant!  We then got into a screaming match as I argued that 1) I was not pregnant, and 2) even if I was, blueberries are perfectly acceptable for pregnant women to eat.  He disputed both points.  I don't remember how it concluded other than I never ate the blueberries. 

This time around I didn't have my mom to interpret for me, but I also didn't need her.  I've recently been witness to several know-it-all comments toward pregnant women about the "don'ts" of their pregnancy.  Don'ts as in, don't eat that, don't wear those shoes, don't exercise that way.  Unsolicited advisers of any topic should tread lightly, but when it comes to such a sensitive and unique experience as pregnancy I have been shocked at how rarely that occurs.  What shocks me more is how often these bold directives come from complete strangers or women who have never been pregnant.

I lost my shit on the waiter in my dream.  I imagine my real life response would have been on par.  Telling a pregnant woman that she's doing something she shouldn't is the equivalent of telling her that she's already a bad mother.  It's mean.  Unless she's doing some drunk rollerskating while smoking a stogie, let it go.  Eating soft cheese or wearing stiletto heels isn't catastrophic behavior.  And, most importantly, she has a doctor who is far more qualified to be dishing out judgment.