I used to get sick of reading about "Yummy-Mummies". The weekend papers were always full of articles about mothers who looked good, went for lattes and managed their households with ease. Since becoming a mother I've found that Yummy-Mummies don't seem to exist, at least not in my suburb, or in the parenting magazines that I read (and I read all of them!).
I was relieved to find that all the Mums I know are just normal people, dealing with this new experience of motherhood. People dress the same way as before (maybe with less make-up) and still have the same friends and values as before. Most Mums I know had careers before the baby was born and intend to return to work after a year. They are still the same person, they now have a small person to look after. I'm not saying having a child doesn't change you, I just think that you are essentially the same person. Your ideals and morals don't change.
Which I think is why I find it quite irritating that parenting magazines and companies (hello Huggies!) seem to be obsessed with Mumpreneurs. That means a Mum who is an entrepreneur, generally one that comes up with an amazing baby/child-related product that makes them lots of money. They can work from home and juggle their family and work commitments. Lucky them.
I actually got so excited reading about all these Mumpreneurs (there seem to be thousands of them) that I decided that I should become one. Only problem was, I couldn't come up with a good business idea. And then it struck me that I would be a terrible Mumpreneur. First of all, my baby never sleeps during the day. I barely have time to read the paper. Second of all, I hate doing administrative things like tax and accounting and budgeting. Thirdly, I am quite social and enjoy going to work.
I also like a regular pay packet, having my superannuation sorted, having sick leave, annual leave, maternity leave. I like having responsibility at work, using my brain, running meetings with my team. The more I think about it the more I'm looking forward to going back to work. If you had asked me 6 months ago I would have said I wanted to be on maternity leave forever. But now I can't wait to get back. Admittedly I'm only going back part-time (3 days), but I can't wait to jump right into it. I need to use my brain, to work with my colleagues, to solve problems, to have coffee meetings. And have a lunch break by myself. It'll be great!
