Woman Makes 'Pregnancy Jar' To Get Her Family To Stop Asking When She's Going To Have A Baby
Honestly a great idea.
Luis Molinero | Shutterstock A woman in her mid-thirties came up with the idea of a “pregnancy jar,” much to the dismay of her family.
The "pregnancy jar" concept is very similar to the “swear jar” that many children know all too well — every time a family member or friend asks her about having a baby in the near future, she asks them to put a dollar in the jar.
The jar has served its purpose well, getting her family to eventually stop asking them about a baby after some time. However, an awkward situation with her brother has left her and the rest of the family divided.
Now, she’s wondering if she was wrong to make the jar in the first place.
She decided to seek out the internet’s opinion on the issue, posting the story to the popular subreddit r/AmItheA**hole (AITA). Users on the subreddit can decide if the original poster was in the right or not by assigning them the rating of “Not the a**hole” (NTA) or “You’re the a**hole” (YTA).
Most users agreed that the woman was NTA — but context is important.
The woman and her husband have been trying to have kids for a while, but to no avail. Despite their attempts, their family had been pestering them repeatedly, which frustrated them because they didn’t have control over the situation. She then came up with the perfect solution to their family’s incessant asking.
“I carry it with me in my bag whenever I'm with friends and family and every time someone asks about when my husband and I are gonna have a baby, I pull my jar out and ask them to drop a dollar in there for asking,” she wrote. “I'd get puzzled looks but they reach out for their pockets/wallets/purses and pull out a dollar and put it inside the jar.”
A week before she wrote the post, they went over to her parent’s house for a family dinner. During the meal, her brother, who had just returned from a month-long business trip, asked them if they were expecting soon.
Naturally, she got up and held the “pregnancy jar” up to her brother for asking. He couldn’t tell if she was being serious or not and refused to pay at first.
In response to the brother saying that he didn’t have to pay, she said that he didn’t need to ask in the first place — ultimately making things awkward around the table.
“I could tell he felt embarrassed he immediately reached out to his pocket, pulled out his wallet, and put a dollar in my jar,” she wrote. “I made my way back to my seat and sat down and resumed eating like nothing happened.”
Her mother pulled her into the kitchen and called her out for acting “childish.” Her mother then said that she was “worried for them” because both she and her husband were in their mid-thirties and didn’t “have much time left if we want at least one healthy baby.”
She and her husband then left and haven’t talked to the family for days, barring a phone call from her sister to also scold her.
Commenters praised the woman for her idea, with many stating they plan to use it themselves in the future.
“It is because it does exactly what happened: it brings the absurdity of the question (and by extension the questioner) to an even more absurd plan,” one commenter wrote. “You have figured out how to ‘outcrazy' people that ask without looking crazy yourself.”
No one knows what a couple is going through, so it’s best to not make the situation more awkward by bombarding them with questions about having kids.
Jonathan Alfano is a writer who focuses on news and entertainment topics. Follow him on Twitter to keep up with his content.