Andrea Leadsom thinks that being a Mummy will make her a better Prime Minister, than Theresa May, who is a non-Mummy
Maybe.
Or maybe someone a journalist took some of her words out of context.
Whatever. Either way people are kicking off about it.
Which is a bit daft really.
Because ofcourse Leadsom will say whatever it takes to get the upper hand, this isn't personal, it's work.
May will be more than able to fend off catty remarks from a woman she is in competition with. That's normal. She will apply her suit of emotional armour alongside her clothing in the morning, just like rest of us.
It's when she is on her own time, when the guard comes down.
That's when the remarks hurt.
If you had kids then you'd understand.
If I had a pound for every time a woman said this to me, then I'd be able to fund Leadsom's campaign singlehandedly.
But I wouldn't. Becuase now I think she's a very rude lass. Obviously.
I was all set to get hitched at the age of 30. Then, at the eleventh hour, I didn't.
And I knew that when I did that, I was running the risk of not having children.
Cancelling the wedding was the most socially uncomfortable thing I've ever done. It followed me around for years.
Or, the questions did, anyway.
Why did you do it? What if you never have kids now?
I would explain that I didn't love my ex fiance enough to have children with him. And then every other man I dated after that that was keen to have kids with me? Well, I didn't love any of them enough, either.
I couldn't stomach the idea of creating children with a man who was not the love of my life.
And then the years went by. And I wasn't 30 anymore.
And there you have it.
It's not something you ever really come to terms with, you just sort of live with it. Make peace with it. Let the shadows of the children you never had walk alongside you. Just acknoweldge the lack of them.
There's no real space for lack, it doesn't exist in a literal sense. If there is a vacuum on Earth, then it is immediately filled.
Just like when a woman has no children, she simply learns to fill the child-spaced gaps with something else.
I reached the age where all of my friends have children years ago.
And yes, some of them are smug about it still.
As well they should be.
It's quite an amazing feat, to be in charge of keeping tiny humans alive, day in, day out.
These days I'm living a scenario that I'd never really considered before. My partner is exactly the same age as me, but has 3 children.
Unlike some of the Mummy-friends in my life, he's never made me feel less of a woman for not having children.
I never feel like I have to have my emotional guard up around him, because he doesn't see me as a non-Mummy. Just a person he happens to be in love with, who happens to not have any children.
If Theresa May is to become Prime Minister, then she will be a Prime Minister who just happens to not have any children.
And she will no doubt have to attend even more functions, where more women will look her in the eye, and comment on her non-Mummy status.
And she will no doubt deal with it in the exact same way as she did as a non-Prime Minister.
Because, just like the rest of us non-Mummy's, she will have had years of practice.
And will be prepared for many more years to come.