Being a mom in this day and age means very little information is sacred.

Perhaps because we are barraged daily with media of all kinds offering parenting tips and stories such as “How to make time for sex after kids” and “How to be more fertile,”  we think nothing of asking others out loud about these things. I am talking about face-to-face encounters on the street, in the grocery store, at the nail salon.

When I say “we,” I don’t mean me. I can’t bring myself to ask strangers these things. But the mysterious thing is, I will answer them when they ask me. Not specifically the topics above. I have never been asked that (though I’m sure someone out there has). But I have been asked inappropriate things. Just today, a stranger asked if I was done or wanted a third child.

If questions like this were asked of my mother or grandmother in their child-bearing days, they surely would have given the question asker the cold shoulder. They definitely would have blushed. I’d like to say I blushed at that stranger today. But the truth is, I barely batted an eyelash. I just answered (“We may have another”) and moved on with my day. By the way, a startling amount of people have asked me this question since I had my daughter 3 months ago.

Now here’s one that tripped me up a bit. I was asked the following when I was pregnant with my daughter this past winter, “Was this a planned pregnancy?”  I hesitated and stared at the woman for a moment. My look must have said, “You really just asked me that?” But I answered. I said, “Yes, it was planned.”

Why do I answer? I suppose I am jaded too. I chat on mom boards and read parenting articles all the time, so there’s this constant flow of all-information-mom throughout my days. I am part of an era of mom bloggers and posters so I can understand how one could take an online conversation, typed anonymously, out into the daylight.

That, and I have yet to be asked something that I’m truly embarrassed about. But at this rate, it’s bound to happen. When it does, I’d like to think I will refuse to answer. I will be polite, but I will firmly say, “I’d rather not discuss it.” Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll have to remember that one.