| The Columbia World of Quotations. 1996. |
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| NUMBER: | 4221 |
| QUOTATION: | Because humans are not alone in exhibiting such behavior—bees stockpile royal jelly, birds feather their nests, mice shred paper—it’s possible that a pregnant woman who scrubs her house from floor to ceiling [just before her baby is born] is responding to a biological imperative . . . . Of course there are those who believe that . . . the burst of energy that propels a pregnant woman to clean her house is a perfectly natural response to their mother’s impending visit. |
| ATTRIBUTION: | Mary Arrigo (20th century), U.S. writer. “The Whole 9 Months,” Parenting (October 1993). |
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| | | The Columbia World of Quotations. Copyright © 1996 Columbia University Press. |
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