i went to a friend’s baby shower this past sunday – it was lovely. the setting, the decorations, the food… i was thankful B was there. I didn’t know many of the people and a few that i did know, i’m not that close to. either way, afternoon tea is always something i enjoy – regardless of who i know.
with some one who struggles with anxiety/depression disorder, it’s weird that i’m perfectly content to sit on my own and daydream away in the middle of a room of strangers. it’s a gift, i suppose. not that i willingly put myself into that type of situation – it’s just a gift in that if i do find myself surrounded by strangers and no one seems interested in talking with me, i always have that ‘escape’ option that i’ve become good at over the years.
anyway, i’m horrible at those baby shower games. i basically have never won – which is fine. but yeah – it’s the one area where my competitive nature gives up because i know it’s hopeless.
the hardest game this past sunday was to name a word related to babies (and early years motherhood) for every letter of the alphabet. in three minutes. the hint was that the most unique words would win us more points.
okay. easy enough.
except that it wasn’t. it was hard. it was… like… making us THINK! on a SUNDAY! at a PARTY! while drinking TEA! and AFTER stuffing our faces with finger sandwiches and tasty pastries – the blood was already working on my digestion and no where near my brain.
when the hostess told us to start, i stared at the letter A intensely. i know the idea was to come up with a unique word – but at that point, i couldn’t even come up with any common words!
so… i did the best i could. i wrote down, ‘anal thermometer.’
when the hostess came to collect our answers, she then explained she would give us some one else’s paper and we would ‘grade’ the words together. to my horror, mine got passed to an older lady (a relative – i think an aunt) sitting RIGHT across from me.
was i really about to be the cause of this older, possibly conservative, chinese lady to have to say the word ‘anal’ at her niece’s baby shower?
now, i will admit. part of me was curious – curious to the reactions and you know, maybe baby showers don’t need to be so conservative and traditional. after all, i followed the rules and ‘anal thermometer’ can be related to babies since it is one of two options on how to take their temperature (yes, i know – with technology being as easy as going to our local pharmacy store, you can get those battery operated ones you stick in the ear… but the anal option, since it’s to unsafe to take their temperature orally at that age, IS the most accurate way to get a good reading of their internal body temperature).
the other part of me wanted to crawl under a rock and die. i am so much more conservative now that i am older and, well, a mother. but the fear of my past reputation – the catalyst for certain ‘trouble’ at parties, started to creep back and i could feel the heat rising to my cheeks as i was about to be exposed to these strangers of what type of person i use to be.
well, turns out that everyone had a good laugh. including the lady that had to read it – actually, i think she even enjoyed shouting it out.
for the letter B, i played it safe. i put down ‘bibs’ but in my mind, i was actually thinking, blistering nipples.
