Saigon Calling, Yummy Mummy
A vivid memory, that very first day at the school gates in HCMC.
Realising, I was no longer, what they referred to in 2005 as a yummy mummy.
The mother who is dressed to kill and makes a quick stop at Children’s Day Care to drop of her child(ren) before going to work.
A fast-paced fly by, waiving at the other mothers, who are talking to each other and arranging play dates. No time to waste! No time for a chat!
I need to catch my train. And my breath. I am needed somewhere (else).
As I rush off, I wave to the other’s and barely catch my train.
And half an hour later, with a coffee TOGO, I sit myself down at the management team meeting right on time!
In my new life, I have all the time in the world. I have now officially become a slummy mummy. At the school gates, dressed in what looks like my husbands oversized shirt, hair in a bun, no make-up and no job to go to. Honestly, I really have lost my way.
What AM I doing here? And who AM I?
A happy-go-lucky and chatty Australian lady comes up to me on this first morning.
My horrific appearance and devastated look on my face must have given me .
Because she hands me her business card and says:
“I know where you are. At some stage, you will be ready to shoot yourself. When that moment comes, give me a call and I will be there”.
I thought that moment would never come. But it did.
And I called. And within half an hour my new friend was in front of my door with a bottle gin and two cans of tonic in hand. We remained mates throughout our time in HCMC.
Welcome to my world and my ultimate ‘Become a Buddha” training in Vietnam
With my new, unknown and full time job with challenges that belong to this life and this country.
As my mother decided to point out to me the other day;
“Yes darling, this IS the first time you have started developing some household management skills. And it’s about time”.
So, where is that bottle of gin?
I contemplate my social conditioning, my want and need for status. Being able to say “this is who I am” in a job-related sense. My ego. Sad really. A paid job, being the ‘ambitious working business woman’. That sexy, confident, secretly exhausted, phoning and texting mummy while biking to work.
It’s a lot easier than “I am a stay at home mummy”, even if it is just for now. That sounds as sexy as a bag of potatoes.
Ghandi said: “Be the change you want to see in the world”.
My work-life coach gave me a mirror with this quote on it in 2005.
Now I look in the mirror and wonder what is the change that I want now?