“Youve gotten so ugly, youre definitely going to have a daughter,” my mother-in-law used to say to me.
When others complained about not getting along with their in-laws, I never believed them. With his parents, things were finebut that was probably because we moved nearly 200 miles away right after the wedding.
I barely even had time to get to know my new “mum.” After the reception, we stayed at their place for a week, and everything seemed fine then. Then we moved, and my husband got posted with the military.
We lived there for ten years. Then, they transferred him back to his hometown. Honestly, that wasnt great news for meId settled in, wed been given a nice house, and I was expecting our third child. But there wasnt much we could do about it.
I gave birth back in his hometown. A year later, I got pregnant again. It wasnt planned, and I wasnt ready, but wed always wanted a big family, so we didnt even hesitate. While I was pregnant, my “mum” came to “help.” Shed drop by now and then, but instead of lifting a finger, shed just sit there sipping tea and dishing out advice.
I ignored most of itcleaning tips, household stuff, whatever. But when she started weighing in on how to raise my kids, I saw red. It really got to methis woman barely knew me, hadnt seen me in a decade, and only knew her grandkids from photos, yet here she was telling me how to parent.
Then, when I was eight months along, she said, “Oh, youre definitely having a girl this time!”
We *did* want a girlwe already had three boys! So I smiled and asked, “What makes you say that?”
“Youve aged, youre all puffy, your face is swollen. A daughter steals whats left of your beauty.”
“Cheers for that,” I said. “I always get like this when Im pregnant.”
“Not like *this*,” she shot back.
“How would you know? Youve only seen photos of me pregnant.”
“Dont argue. I had a son, and I was glowingeveryone said so. You? You look dreadful. Puffed up like a water balloon. Cant even fit your slippers anymore, can you?”
I didnt say anything. Didnt tell her it wasnt about the babys genderI was just 39, and shed had my husband at 19. At that age, everyones fresh-faced. Shed called me ugly plenty of times before. My husband finally put a stop to it. And, as it turned out, we had another son.
