First word 12

Hi.

Recently I had the opportunity to listen to a debate about secrecy and who between men and women, were better in keeping secrets. I was on a queue and my fellow ‘queue-mates’ found this subject a good pass-time as we waited for our turn to get served.

One of the debaters argued that although many women talk a lot and love to gossip, they still manage to hold dear some highly classified secrets. She also claimed that men do not talk much but when they do, they can tell their mates very deep stuff. This caught the attention of one man who chipped in. saying. ‘Woman is the inventor of secrecy.’ He elaborated that Eve was the mother with her secret pact at the garden of Eden, with ‘the devil himself! He added that women are. In a deceptive manner, among the most secretive creatures the world has seen. Especially pregnant women, he chided: ‘They go through so much yet tell their hubbies so little.’ That was his lamentation.

At this point one of the women, while revealing she was a pregnant ‘mama’—just two months in this condition—accused some men of arrogance and indifference. Once you get pregnant, she declared, some men feel you have been ‘conquered.’ ‘The next step is for him to go out and bring food and clothing to his subject. Meanwhile, you are undergoing lots of physical and psychological changes, encountering many emotional surprises and facing new uncertainties every day. You need someone to talk to, but will he listen to nausea talk? You try once, twice, thrice. He’s not game, so you give him the blackout!’

The mention of nausea seemed to be familiar with most of the women, myself included, and it threatened to become a major new debate. Until the same man interjected. ‘You see, this is the point of departure between a pregnant woman and her man. Nausea talk for seven days a week will make a man deaf! Talking about it is relieving to the woman, but talking about sensuality—and why she’s avoiding intimacy—is even more interesting to a man.’

Ah. sensuality. All the women went dead silent. So after all, they did have secrets about that!

By the end of it all, even without sharing any details between us, we agreed that there is need for all of us women to take affirmative action during pregnancy and immediately after. To ensure our romantic relationships survive and outlive our pregnancies. So what can a woman do to break the ice after she has delivered?

I am sure you may already have noticed—it’s on page 54!

God’s love, and do enjoy Mother’s Day and International Women’s Day.

END:PG12/3