Stay at Home Mother
Next Entries »All dressed up and somewhere to go
Thursday, February 3rd, 2005Yesterday I got glammed up in my finest work attire and went to a business meeting in London. Afterwards we went to tea at the Ritz. It’s a bit passé to have tea at the Ritz, I know, but going there, I felt so… so like me. Not someone’s mother, not someone’s wife, not someone’s daughter, sister, aunt or even friend. I was just me, going about my own business like millions of others in the big, bad city. No-one recognised me, no-one stopped to ask me if the children were well, no-one wanted anything from me. (Except the obsequious waiter who might have been hitting on me. But it’s been so long, I couldn’t really tell for sure.)
Turns out I am still inside me somewhere.
Disclaimer: this post was written for the benefit of the New York Times. Wouldn’t want to disappoint them afterall.
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Black dog day
Monday, January 24th, 2005Sky news reports that today, January 24, is the most depressing day of the year for workers, as they realise the festive season is long gone and their next holiday is weeks or months away.
Does that mean that mothers, most of whom basically work all the time, suffer ‘the most depressing day of the year’ every day?
Sure, it’s Monday, but it’s sunny and my children are their delightful selves, and whilst they can fight and scream for England like they are doing right now (and boy can they scream) they are still better than the boss who’s got it in for you at a job which sucks, that doesn’t leave you any money at the end of the month after bills and taxes, in an office that spreads Legionnaires through the air conditioning system, that took you ninety minutes in rush hour traffic to reach. But only just. Yup, I’m counting my blessings today.
Shit, what’s wrong with me?
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Friends (not quite) Reunited
Saturday, January 8th, 2005Last night I decided to check out a site I have been meaning to visit for ages.
Friends Reunited sounds like one of those sites that only sad geeks or losers with nothing better to do would visit. I’m a yummy-mummy with two children, a husband, two dogs and a filthy house which equals no time to do stuff like that.
But, as is often the case with stuff you imagine to be really boring (except raising children which is so much more boring than I ever imagined it to be), it was quite intriguing. Almost all the girls in my school year had registered on the site (many more than boys - we really are such social creatures). Seeing what they are up to is very odd. And it made me feel so middle-aged. Those that had posted photos made me feel faintly nauseous at the thought of the years that have passed that I haven’t even really noticed. Inside I still feel like the girl I imagine them all still to be.
What also surprised me was that so few of them seem to have children. Fair enough, but we are all reaching the age where, TICK-TOCK, the biological clock is taking over our reproductive thoughts so I can only assume that they don’t want/can’t have children, haven’t met someone who they want to father their children or are career professionals. From their brief entries most of them seem to be career professionals, perhaps a reflection of their privileged private education.
Perhaps because of that, I decided not to post any details of my life. Two children, a husband, two dogs and a filthy house didn’t seem to be on a par with their progress. And my previous life as a pop chick and high achieving academic-type? Well, that life doesn’t seem to be me anymore at all. If it were still me, I would gladly have found the words to show off my progress since school. But to say I gave it all up to be a professional housewife (although we all know, DON’T WE, that bringing up children is absolutely the most valuable thing you can do!) well doesn’t that reflect only my own career-stupidity? And I don’t need to be telling my former school friends about that.
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