Monday, August 2, 2010

Too much estrogen?

In case you didn't know, I work for the YMCA of Greater Charlotte. If you've ever worked for the YMCA, then you're probably aware that the staff within a branch is usually about 90% female. In fact, excluding camp staff, there are 12 men that work in my branch. And that's including some of the part-time workers that I rarely see. I started in childcare/Afterschool/Camp (predominately by females) and now I'm in the Marketing department (also predominately by females). I don't have a problem working with females. The number of burps, farts, cussing, dirty jokes and sexual innuendos is much, MUCH lower and I'm more than OK with that.

However... being the only male member in my previous and current offices, I often find myself in conversations about "women stuff". Now, when I say "women stuff", here's a short list of what I mean:

          - Pregnancy
          - Periods
          - Female anatomy
          - Bedroom time with the hubby (not nearly as cool as some would assume)

These conversations happen all the time. Usually when these conversations happen, I just sit there with a half blank stare, half terrified expression on face and pray that they don't ask for my opinion... on anything.

So today's pregnancy talk was a doozy! Woman "A" comes into the office to speak to women "B" and "C". I wasn't even listening to anything they were saying until I heard the magic phrase, "When I was pregnant..." From that point on, it was hard to NOT listen. I tried so hard not to listen because I knew I would hear things that I wasn't prepared for but it was no use.(Insert blank stare/terrified expression here) I heard things about the uterus, and bladders, and medications, and anxiety, and water breaking and leaking onto someone's foot and... a lot was said during this conversation. Looking back, it was all pretty funny, but during the conversation, in my head, I screamed like a little school girl.

The flip side to this is that I have no excuse to be a terrible husband or father. During my 5 years with the YMCA, I've made a long mental list of what NOT to do in marriage and working with kids I've got a long list of what I DON'T want my kids to do. So I should be good. After today's talk, when the time comes,I'm now expecting to talk about Asha's uterus, bladder, medication, anxieties, and even have her water break and just leak all over my bare feet. Who knows, I may even deliver the baby myself! (doubt it)

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