Farewell to Stepford

I have been quiet but not idle these last months.

Since I last posted Six became Seven and Three turned into Four, I threw two birthday parties with the obligatory whimsical cakes, Husband was awarded tenure and immediately became a nicer and more relaxed person, we started our new company and were slightly taken aback to have a client before we were exactly ready (no complaints, though) and I even managed to squeeze in a mad dash to London where I spent a terrifying amount of money on new clothes and lunch in a very short space of time (we won’t dwell on that, although Visa is very happy that I did).

And here I am, writing a quick post instead of packing up all our worldly goods which is what I should be doing because we are pulling out of Stepford in about 10 days.

We’ve been here seven and a half years. I can hardly believe it. Of course I know it in some deep way because here is my seven year old daughter and when I came here I was barely pregnant. I arrived a young woman, excited and looking forward to motherhood, and I’m leaving it a no-longer-young woman (fuck it, I seem to have crossed the great wrinkle divide without any fanfare or serious fun) looking forward to getting back into some proper work, money and city action as this small-town, stay-at-home thing has more than run its course.

I am not entirely sure what is going to happen next, but to be honest, that is just how I like life. The predictability of Stepford is one of the things that got me down so badly. When I look back on my life as it was before marriage and kids, I used to wake up in the morning (I use the term ‘morning’ loosely) and think to myself happily that no matter how I started my day, by 10pm my whole entire life could be utterly different. And often it was.

That hasn’t happened much, if at all over the last 7 or 8 years, saving the days my children were born – those days were big changers, to be sure.

From this time here I will always be grateful for the beautiful, peaceful and safe surroundings in which I could raise two babies without the pressure of having to go to a job every day. The weather is mostly perfect, and I learned to appreciate routine and personal responsibility in a way that I never had before.  I am now fully capable of providing nutritious meals at regular intervals and they’re nearly always on time. I quite often eat them myself which is a big improvement on days of yore when I lived on Smarties and Coca-cola.
Another Stepford plus is that I always used to find the hours between 4pm and 7pm vaguely depressing, though I couldn’t tell you why. Since Stepford I have been either too busy feeding and caring for children or rushing out the door to a dance class to have time for any happy hour melancholia.
We’ve had amazing neighbours and our children have been happy and settled at their schools. I love flying out of the toy airport – it’s hilariously tiny and pretty and you never have to check in more than 1/2 an hour before a flight, even if you’re going across the world.

But this does not a life make.

I’m ready to go and we’re on our way.

Farewell, Stepford. It’s been real.

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