Singleton
Bridget Jones famously popularized Singletons, that neurotic tribe of women obsessed with sex (or lack thereof), the scale, career and a glass of chardonay at the end of a V.G. (or not) day. Bound by their exclusion from the world of Smug Marrieds, their hearts’ desire is for Mr. Darcy to sweep them across that threshold. I’ve wish Helen Fielding would write a sequel in which Bridget observes Smug Marrieds turn into Disaster Divorcees with the same wit. If wishes were horses. . .
Well, I’m now looking for a cute moniker to describe those of us who are surrounded by Oblivious Mommies and Daddies. These are our dear dear friends who don’t even realize that their interests and conversation have morphed into stocking the diaper bag, navigating PTA politics, and retelling playground prattle. Not that there’s anything WRONG with that – in fact, I find it hilarious on most days!
However, walk into any bookstore and head over to the Baby/Family section (just look for the pastel pink and blue spines). Tons of authors devoted to helping Mom (and very rarely, Dad) make the transition into mommyhood. I think it is a testament to the myopia of the parenting behemoth that there’s virtually no thought about what this transition does to the rest of us left in its wake. Uncle Sara wants to do something about it. I’m going to devote some time here to helping the rest of us navigate the transition to Auntie (or Uncle!) and help understand how to live in that new world our friends have made for them – and us. Stay tuned.
A postscript thought on semantics. Come to think of it, the language that we commonly use says a lot about the way our culture weighs women’s status. Consider the boxes on virtually every application form. Married or UNmarried. How many children? vs. No children. Just check one. The married or mommy as the positive, the unmarried is the negative. Hmmm…
