I read recently that to have a child is to forever have your heart walk around outside your body.
I would like to add to this rather lovely sentiment, that to have a child is also to forever, as a mother have to endure criticism about your lifestyle from the likes of Liz Jones.
Yes, Liz was at it again this weekend. She was a speaker at the Mumsnet Bloggers Conference and she has moved back to London from the countryside (because she doesn't get on with the locals).
Personally I love living in the countryside. But I have (fashion) friends who, when they visit me almost panic at the sight of the mud and fields. That's totally fine, because I almost panic when I visit them in East London and see all the ironic beards...
But Mumsnet Liz, sorry I'm just not having that;
Liz on the Mumsnet Conference;
'It was a little like sending a rabbit to a convention of vivisectionists. Me. And 300 mums'
Really, why? Did the Mum's rub household cleaner into your eyes?
What an utterly bonkers comparison (and from someone supposedly so pro animal rights).
And there was this from Liz; 'Artists - and I'm sorry, but I do consider myself an artist'
Ahem...do stop sniggering at the back...
And then there was this from Liz; 'Questions raised on the Mumsnet site - and by God it's bitchy and competitive - range from'
Er no it's not bitchy and competitive...How dare you. The Mumsnet site is hilarious and warm and encouraging and helpful. Without Mumsnet I would never have had the courage to write. I would never have met so many interesting women (some who work and some who don't - Liz) and I would never have had the kind of non-judgmental support I've had as a mother.
As well as Liz's now infamous admission that she stole her husband's sperm because she wanted a baby so desperately, her constant bitching about her having had to work harder to cover other mother's maternity leave, now she's moaning about women who 'don't work', but instead blog about baking and 'their cupcake-scented world'
So much for the sisterhood Liz...
Back in the days when I was an utter career fashion girl, one of the most offensive things another woman ever said to me was
'Are your shoes LK Bennett?'
Only kidding, it was this:
Her 'Do you have kids?'
Me 'Not yet'
Her 'Oh right, you must work then'.
Me (in my head) 'Crikey'
You see, I found the idea that a woman wouldn't work because she had children abhorrent.
Then I became a mother. And I very quickly shut up.
Personally, I want my daughter to grow up seeing me working, but that's my choice, not Liz's to tell me, or give an opinion on.
Because not only should it be about choice - if one is fortunate enough to have a choice about working, but most crucially it should also be about not judging other women's choices.
And, actually since I became a mother I've had the most rewarding 2 years of my life. I have, at times, never been so frazzled or so tired, but I have also never laughed, had so much fun or loved so much.
And I never want it to end.
'