Last Saturday my wife and I attended a banquet one of her friends held for her newborn son, who is 100 days old.
In China it is a tradition to celebrate a child's first 100 days in this world by feting relatives and friends.
At the banquet, we two sat at a table in the company of her high school roommates and their husbands, all of whom have become parents. We are the only couple with no issue.
At the table the discussion went beyond usual reminiscence of school days and centered on parenting, involving even unabashed talk about breast feeding.
Bombarded by the enthusiastic exchange of the blissful young parents, my wife tried to chime in with some small talk. Feeling ill at ease, I sat silently, tucking into the food.
I waited for a change of topic, but the discussion just got livelier and veered toward money matters.
And when money is at stake, passions can only run high, for a chance to flaunt wealth and outshine others is a blood sport of some women.
One of our table mates, a young mother, railed against the staggering prices - around 3,000 yuan (US$484) - of a training course in which she had enrolled her 4-month-old baby.
The course is said to improve newborns' socializing skills. But she found out that it taught no more than how to crawl, she said with a frown.
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