Compliment ... to give or not to

"I have no clue how I am going to ask her to reduce all those excess kilos she is gaining", said one of my guy friends. They are expecting their first baby. His wife was asked for a complete bed rest, during the first trimester, due to some complication. And, later on, the doctor advised not to strain herself. All this left no room for any activity - not even the age old remedy - the walk. And like a typical mallu, shes being gaining weight ever since.

We, my friend & myself, being loyal friends, we started off with our expertise. He had no option but to listen to us - after all, girls are supposed to know girls better. This is a snippet of the conversation that ensued ....

Me : Well, to start with, never ever tell her to start working out. That is a direct insult - it gets translated to 'You are fat! Do something!'
The other girl friend(eagerly shaking her head in consensus) : Very true! That might even hurt her ego.
Me : Yeah, and that will surely back fire!
He (taking a mental note) : No direct statements!

The other girl friend : Make subtle comments.
He (looking lost) : How can the topic of weight reduction be made subtle?
Me (seriously thinking) : For one, you may start saying stuffs like, you look great in some pre-pregnancy dresses.
The other girl friend : Yeaa .... you can tell her that you like it when she wears that dress.

There was a long pause while the guy was giving it a serious thought. Finally, the other girl friend broke the silence .... "But the problem is, if you are not used to complimenting her, and out of the blue, you make this statement, she'll be wondering - Are you nuts!!!!"

That was exactly the reaction I gave my husband when my hubby got me some accessories 'out of the blue'! He had been out of town that weekend. On a normal day, things like, ringing up or getting gifts are not important to him. And, he never does that and, I was fine with that until this time, when he decided to surprise me with a gift! As my dear friend had mentioned, I was indeed dumbstruck & was wondering - 'Is something wrong with this guy?'