What the bleep were you thinking?

Thursday, August 24, 2006

A Mommy Day Off Law

I hear by declare that there should be a Mommy Day Off once a month, supported by our government and/or health care organizations.
Why, you ask, should women get a day off from being a Mom? Because some times, you just don't want to be Mommy anymore - but just for a short time. Not permanently (but for those women who do, there are therapists who can help you with that), but for a day. I think every Mom feels this way. Those who might be reading this who are horror struck that I think this and they don't, great, wonderful for you. But for about 90% of us, I'm sure that we need a day off for our sanity.
After awhile, you get mentally, emotionally exhausted from Mommyhood. Being physically exhausted is par for the course. You expect to be tired from babies who aren't sleeping through the night yet or trying to be superwoman (working at a career then coming home to be Mommy) or chasing down a kid or two. But, every Mommy needs to have a day just to be able to be someone besides the person most likely to have drool on their shirt.
I'd like to wear something that doesn't end the day sprayed with baby drool or baby food. Spend a day not thinking about making sure that the Boy's laundry is done or chasing him down the hall as he heads to the bathroom to try to play in his bathtub. I want to be able to go out and buy something that isn't a t shirt that can withstand Boy's backhanding my sandwich all down the front of it.
Call me crazy, but I'd like to eat an entire meal where I'm not cutting up pieces of it for Boy. Eat something that is solely for my enjoyment. Slowly eat my meal, not wolf it down like a prison inmate just released from solitary confinement and given something that remotely has flavour. Not have to say "no, Boy, no" when I see a small hand reaching up for my utensils. Or sigh as I see Boy snatch a cup or dish off the table and try to fling it on the ground.
Being silly as I am, I would love to wander around the shopping district and not hear a low whine turn into a painful cry as I run a loving hand over clothes or shoes or handbags or books or whatever. Not feel like I'm playing Speed: The Baby Version when I'm out (if you slow the stroller down to less than a foot every second, the baby lets out a wail that will wake the dead). To get a Chocolixir as I wander the racks without seeing a pair of grey eyes watching the Chocolixir as if he could get a sip and then spill it all over the Marc Jacobs fall collection dress I longed for (but can't afford because Boy's diapers aren't at Costco and cost a bleeping fortune).
C'mon, legislators, make a law that every Mommy gets a single day off. Let us drop our precious little darlings off at a daycare facility that will get compensated for taking on our confused little bundles of joy while we are frivolous. A recharged Mommy is a better Mommy.