Thursday, July 10, 2008

Passing for Frumpy. Or Nuts

The next time you see some woman walking around muttering to herself, you might take a second look. She may not be crazy. She might just be a mom. For 4 plus years I have been providing a stream of consciousness monologue for my kids about everything I am doing. At the grocery store, at the toy store, out for a walk, everywhere. I mean, how will the baby grow up to know how to pick out the good oranges unless I tell her? In detail?

The problem is that now I find that I can't turn it off even when I want to. It's even about some pretty inappropriate things, like talking to the baby about someone's shoes just after they have just walked by (usually that they are cute thankfully). I think I will save the fact that I find myself doing this on the rare occasions I DON'T have the baby with me for another post....

Today Beebz and I were at the grocery store and I found myself saying OUT LOUD to the baby, "Look at that cute gay boy couple. They are so cute! (I'm sorry, but 20 something little gay boys in their casual but still more expensive than my whole wardrobe put together clothes and hair etc ARE cute. They work hard at it, so why not acknowledge it? Now back to me still talking out loud....) I bet they think I am just some frumpy mom with her kid at the grocery. They have no idea I am family too! Yes, we are, we are family too, aren't we? We need some rainbow stickers on our sling, don't we?" THANK THE GODS the guys had kept walking and not stopped to pick out something near me.

I mean, it's hard being secretly trendy (I hear lesbian moms are all the rage) but passing for dowdy. I guess I just don't have the fashion support to make my clothes show how trendy I really am. I mean, how many trendy cool lesbian nursing shirts have you seen? Of course, any shirt I wear gets covered by the sling, so what's the point? I think the current fad of trendiness (seriously? fad of trendiness? seriously? yeah, I'm keeping it.) is to make your statement without TRYING to make a statement. But I am thinking it takes a huge percentage off the (secret) cool factor when I am talking OUT LOUD to the baby about it. So I guess my statement is hippie-frumpy-secretly-not-so-trendy mama who talks to her baby in public about pretty much anything crossing her mind. Hmmm. It's a look.

2 comments:

  1. Do you need us to call Stacy and Clinton from 'What Not to Wear'? I don't think I have ever seen them do an episode about sling fashion, but they are in favor of the wrap around anything, so I think you should go with your look! I love the secretly trendy you. And I think the talking to Beebz/Pablo/yourself works. In the training world we call describing your thought process for the benefit of others metacognition - it is what all the cool trainers do. You are a trainer (of your kids), you are cool. It follows that you would metacognate!

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  2. I hear you!

    I'm getting ready to go to a wedding rehearsal/ 21st birthday party, and the only thing "cool" about me, is my kids. I'm just their much older sister who happens to be a mom.

    You are very hip to be talking so much to your kiddo's and those of us also talking to ourselves can nod in appreciation. Let's face it, Those youngsters aren't paying attention to us anyway!

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