What are manners? Mommy and daddy never mentioned anything about those? 'So what do u do all day, socialize?' asked a saccharine voice.
I could hear, under coatings of sugar, the hidden barb.
I looked at the nearly 30 year old single 'girl' and for a second I thought, 'Should I really tell her what I do?'
All I said was, 'No I don't see my friends all day. I take care of my kids.'
What I decided not to do, was explain to her what exactly 'taking care of kids' means. Because, I figured, if she's lucky, and smart enough, she might have kids of her own someday. And then she will understand what taking care of kids entails.
I guess I sound annoyed. Well I am. Just a tad. Ha!
I raised my kids for the last 6 years. I gave up my sanity. My sleep. My wants and needs. I gave up my identity for 6 years to raise my kids and to be a mother and a mother alone. And to be the best mother I could be. Every day was a struggle. Every day, a sacrifice. Yet I chose to do so.
But because I chose to live my life a certain way does not mean I do not respect every woman out there, who has made a decision to live her life a certain way, no matter what that path is. Neither does that mean I don't respect women, and there are many many of them, who do not have the luxury to choose their paths in life. Who are forced to work or stay home, marry or not marry, have kids or not, by other people's choice, not their own.
Now that I have chosen, after 6 years of being a mother only, to work while I raise my kids, I know, I will be judged for it, again.
The best gift, every woman can give to her own kind, is the gift of respect. And acceptance. Yet this is very hard for many women to do.
As the single girl started a tirade about how women are so judgmental. How they always ask her nosy questions; when will she get married. Is her boyfriend really serious about her. Isn't she worried it might be too late to have kids soon. She went on and on.
I just sat there wondering, why is it that all women judge other women. All the time. Yet they hate it when others pass judgment on them.
There is something in us women, that forces us to put each other down. 
mommy swagger expo 2010 poster
Maybe if we stop doing that, we might finally topple men, and rule the world!
