Comments on: The Rise Of The Dummy Mummies http://planningwithkids.com/2009/04/24/the-rise-of-the-dummy-mummies/ 2 parents, 5 kids, organised chaos Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:10:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Creihttp://planningwithkids.com/2009/04/24/the-rise-of-the-dummy-mummies/comment-page-1/#comment-50121 Crei Thu, 06 May 2010 13:04:13 +0000 http://planningwithkids.com/?p=2141#comment-50121 What rot. I've been a "career minded" woman, right up to the time I backflipped and decided to had kids. After I came back from mat leave, I did 5 days work in 3 days, never took sick leave, and worked damn damn hard. I was flabbergasted at the "career orientated" employees, who attended 7-7 (always looks good on the email timestamp) but spent much of that time FBing, organising their social life, insisting on discussing things "over coffee", and called long pointless meetings. Very much an example of the "work expands to fill the time allocated" theory. I found I was so used to treating time as precious, (learned from having to complete everything in the minutes the kids were asleep) that I was a much more productive employee. I was also constantly pissed at anyone who tried to waste my productive work time with long meetings, pointless conference calls, or coffee meetings! What rot. I’ve been a “career minded” woman, right up to the time I backflipped and decided to had kids. After I came back from mat leave, I did 5 days work in 3 days, never took sick leave, and worked damn damn hard. I was flabbergasted at the “career orientated” employees, who attended 7-7 (always looks good on the email timestamp) but spent much of that time FBing, organising their social life, insisting on discussing things “over coffee”, and called long pointless meetings. Very much an example of the “work expands to fill the time allocated” theory.

I found I was so used to treating time as precious, (learned from having to complete everything in the minutes the kids were asleep) that I was a much more productive employee. I was also constantly pissed at anyone who tried to waste my productive work time with long meetings, pointless conference calls, or coffee meetings!

]]> By: PlanningQueenhttp://planningwithkids.com/2009/04/24/the-rise-of-the-dummy-mummies/comment-page-1/#comment-6543 PlanningQueen Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:04:03 +0000 http://planningwithkids.com/?p=2141#comment-6543 fatmumslim - It is important that when conversing that you don't dominate it with talk of what only interests you. Tiff - I agree - women should support women! katef - I too think it is was written to generate a response!! Anthea - thanks for sharing your letter and I agree that there is nothing wrong in identifying yourself first and foremost as a mother. fatmumslim – It is important that when conversing that you don’t dominate it with talk of what only interests you.

Tiff – I agree – women should support women!

katef – I too think it is was written to generate a response!!

Anthea – thanks for sharing your letter and I agree that there is nothing wrong in identifying yourself first and foremost as a mother.

]]> By: Anthea Wardhttp://planningwithkids.com/2009/04/24/the-rise-of-the-dummy-mummies/comment-page-1/#comment-6503 Anthea Ward Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:52:54 +0000 http://planningwithkids.com/?p=2141#comment-6503 I wrote to The Age in response to this article. My letter was published in the Sunday Age under the title of 'Dummy Spit'- yeah I almost laughed. Below is the unedited letter I wrote. ... Dear Rachel, I got around to reading the Sunday papers tonight it was while I was watching Boston Legal – yes us “dummy mummies” are often a tad behind due to having family time. Anyway, I was blown away by your article, for so many reasons. I won’t list them all as some I’m slightly unable to articulate other than ‘aaarrrrrgggghhhhh and ggrrrrrrrr!!!!’ Good for you for not wanting kids and at 39, it’s probably a good thing you’re clear on what you want. But why write an article about mothers who love what they do, when you’re on the other side of the fence, with no intention to cross it. If it’s your way of telling your mum and dad you’re not having kids, maybe you should have called rather than put it in print, with a rather large title that grabs attention and does nothing else but insult women. (Big yay for sisterhood there!) I would rather that women are interested (or “obsessed” as you put it) in their own flesh and blood, their little beautiful creations, than not care and be happy to put their children aside to continue on their own selfish path through life. We are now more open with our communication, language and lifestyles and with most aspects of our lives; so if women want to talk about something that you don’t like, maybe you need to excuse yourself politely from the circumstance instead of storing it up as ammunition for your writing. What is wrong for identifying yourself first and foremost as a mother? Is it less than being a lawyer/doctor/teacher? No, it’s the hardest job in the world and bully for someone if they are proud of it. It’s the equivalent of bragging about your job- apart from its usually unpaid work, lasts longer than any career and means so much more. The Sunday Life and other Fairfax publications gives multi-page spreads to fashion, celebs and other fairly meaningless events, so why are you shunning mothers? Seems a bit mean and bitter to me. Good for you for loving your nieces, but until the shoe is on the other foot you will never get why all these women are banging on. I wrote to The Age in response to this article. My letter was published in the Sunday Age under the title of ‘Dummy Spit’- yeah I almost laughed. Below is the unedited letter I wrote.
…
Dear Rachel,

I got around to reading the Sunday papers tonight it was while I was watching Boston Legal – yes us “dummy mummies” are often a tad behind due to having family time.

Anyway, I was blown away by your article, for so many reasons. I won’t list them all as some I’m slightly unable to articulate other than ‘aaarrrrrgggghhhhh and ggrrrrrrrr!!!!’ Good for you for not wanting kids and at 39, it’s probably a good thing you’re clear on what you want. But why write an article about mothers who love what they do, when you’re on the other side of the fence, with no intention to cross it. If it’s your way of telling your mum and dad you’re not having kids, maybe you should have called rather than put it in print, with a rather large title that grabs attention and does nothing else but insult women. (Big yay for sisterhood there!)

I would rather that women are interested (or “obsessed” as you put it) in their own flesh and blood, their little beautiful creations, than not care and be happy to put their children aside to continue on their own selfish path through life. We are now more open with our communication, language and lifestyles and with most aspects of our lives; so if women want to talk about something that you don’t like, maybe you need to excuse yourself politely from the circumstance instead of storing it up as ammunition for your writing.

What is wrong for identifying yourself first and foremost as a mother? Is it less than being a lawyer/doctor/teacher? No, it’s the hardest job in the world and bully for someone if they are proud of it. It’s the equivalent of bragging about your job- apart from its usually unpaid work, lasts longer than any career and means so much more. The Sunday Life and other Fairfax publications gives multi-page spreads to fashion, celebs and other fairly meaningless events, so why are you shunning mothers? Seems a bit mean and bitter to me.

Good for you for loving your nieces, but until the shoe is on the other foot you will never get why all these women are banging on.

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