DEAR MISS MANNERS: I received a postcard announcing the upcoming birth of a baby, four months into the future. The card was similar to a "save the date" for a wedding.
Having never received one of these cards, I'm unsure how I'm to respond or if I need to. Am I to send more than congratulations? Am I to send a gift? Is this the newest trend in "save the date" cards?
GENTLE READER: Let us hope not. What exactly would you be saving the date to do? Congratulate the parents, and then listen to them burst into tears because the time was up and nothing had yet happened?
It strikes Miss Manners that these prospective parents are amazingly ignorant of the ways of babies. They are in for a shock when they discover that babies have their own agendas.
And even if they have scheduled an inducement, it would hardly be the day they would want to field calls and texts. Despite the ridiculous card, the tactful thing for you to do would be nothing whatever until you receive a birth announcement.