OK, you know that question, the one where a super cool young something, definitely without kids, says “So, what you been up to?” or “What you got planned this weekend?” – that one, right there – the one which sends a mum in to a spiralling panic of how on earth am I going to make my life sound anything but very dull to this person? That happened to me this week. Note to self – I definitely need to get more savvy and have some pretty awesome responses ready to blurt out but I never do and I end up doing that whole panic thing … so lets rewind to the event … set the scene so to say …
Model daughter has a photoshoot in London. Cool photographic studio: screens, lights, uber cool music filtering out of cool speaker system, young cool types lulling around (trust me, cool features a. lot.) piercings, funky hair, nonplussed kind of vibe dominating the room and then in walks me … mum … not young, very not cool and anything other than a nonplussed vibe going on (I really need to work on that).
So … whilst all the cool young types are fluffing around daughter, doing hair, applying make up, piecing together outfits talking about recent shoots, recent lovies they’ve been with, parties they’ve turned up late to, nights they’ve not remembered, private clubs they’ve fallen out of, celebrities they’ve been working with … someone says “hey, mum, what you been up to?” And … there it is … that question … and my mind goes blank.
Surely, they don’t really want to know what I’ve been up to. Surely, they’re just being polite. But I can’t sit there and say nothing and I definitely haven’t got a standard cool response ready. What I want to say is stuff which conjures up images that I went out looking like this:
Image thank you to Fashion Gone Rogue
… drank beautiful cocktails with the beautiful people …
… and ended the night like this …
Image thank you to SLR Lounge
Oh come on … you have to admit this has to be the result of a good night … a good lifestyle … this is what I need to be sharing with these cool young types … but … no … I think I said something along the lines of “well, you know, this and that, taking kids to this place and that place … not much.”
Could I have sounded any duller, any more uninteresting? What have the kids made me? This is what I’ve become … a mum with nothing to reply to such a question. Trust me, he really would not have wanted to hear about my trip around Sainsburys, my ironing of 101 shirts, my elation at baking a cake that hasn’t sunk in the middle, my secret excitement about getting in to bed at 8:30 with a cup of tea and a good book when the husband is out (yes, I seriously do that !)
… oh but I do love my life now … wouldn’t change it for the world but just sometimes I wish I could sound a teeny weeny little bit more exciting … make these cool young types think that I’m living the dream … I’m sure I remember nights (or don’t remember nights, more to the point) that would have been deemed cool by even these types once upon a many years ago … but … if i’m really honest the pyjamas and early nights win hands down these days …
… just saying …
