I read THAT article in the Daily Mail about the rise in Slummy Mummys a while back and I read a few responses to it too. It was amazing the support that was offered and the parenting blogging community really did come together in unison. #solidaritea
But like most things, it got me thinking.
The Slummy Mummy.
Is there sometimes more pressure to be one? Is there more pressure to let yourself go a bit, have a messy house and sod all the washing. I’m not saying we are encouraged to do the school run in PJs but there seems to be a rise in not giving a general crap and making light of it.
“Don’t worry about your house, you’ve got kids, it will always be a mess!”
“Don’t bother putting make-up on for the school run, who cares?”
These are the sort of things splashed all over social media and women are now proud to, in the words of Elsa, let is gooooooo! I’m not criticising this either. There is monumental pressure on Mums to have it all and to be “Yummy Mummies” and a bit of slack on this is great and refreshing.
However, I do think the tables are slowly turning and more pressure to not really care as much. There is also a lot of talk about mindfulness, savouring every moment with your kids and a lot of this includes stuffing the chores.
Sometimes, as I put some make-up on in the morning, I stare at myself thinking, who am I really doing this for? Who really care if I am made up? The girls obviously don’t. Maybe I should go a week without makeup? Maybe I should just not bother with any decent clothes. Does anyone care?
But you know what? I just can’t DO IT!
I see a meme like this:
And I just think noooooo. No they are not. They are generally trashing the place and no amount of mindfulness quotes or advice is going to make me leave it until I’ve lost my youngest, buried under the mess. I don’t give a crap if my mate’s house is a tip, don’t get me wrong but I don’t like dirty toilets or filth around in mine. In the same breath, I’m not obsessed but not cool enough to let it stay a complete mess overnight. It just makes me cross, unsettled and I can’t relax until it’s generally respectable. I tend to have a potter when the kids are chilling after 4pm or after tea.
I sometimes have a day off make-up when I’m not going anywhere and you know what? I look rough; pale and no eyes. I know I shouldn’t care and to an extent I don’t. I’ll quite happily do my Instagram stories with no make-up sweaty post gym and in bad light. However, for going out and about, I do like a bit of slap and I do like to care about my appearance.
This article isn’t me trying to get a smug slap in the face, it’s just me being honest. And no I’m not talking newborn days here, hell, you can wear a bin liner on those days; they are a blur! Compared to my fussy Mum, I’m probably a Slummy Mummy (I jest) but really I just can’t do it. I don’t want to be lying in a pile of filth, looking a mess, watching the clock tick around until I can crack open the wine.
I want to make memories with my girls, savour them and love them to death but I want to look good and have a tidy house.
Can anyone relate or is this the same as asking for the moon on a stick?