Ugly face = a boy.

November 2, 2009
My mother-in-law came over today to check on how I have been feeling. She noticed that my face has a few pimples and says, "Oh your face, you are going to have a boy." She then explains that in China they say if the mother has a pretty face it will be a girl and if she has an ugly face it will be a boy. That made me feel good--I was already feeling self-conscious about the pimples so telling me my face is ugly did not help ;p. I know my mother-in-law did not mean to be insensitive. I told Andy the story when he came home later, and he told me to be prepared to learn a lot of Chinese sayings and customs related to child birth and child rearing. I'm not bothered by my mother-in-law's comment, I think it is kinda of funny. However, it makes me think about and worry a little how certain cultural sayings and traditions can negatively impact a person's self-worth and impact relationships between people. There are negative and positive aspects of both Andy and my cultural backgrounds, so how do you focus on teaching the positive even when your own life has been greatly influenced by both?