Mums’ meet ups are good for a couple of reasons.
They’re a chance for women suffering from the same aged children to compare horror stories so they know what they’re being put through is ‘normal’. They’re an opportunity to spend time at a table with people who will hear when you ask them how their day was or to pass the salt. They’re an escape from re-reminding kids to do their homework and peeling potatoes and chasing down children to tackle dishes and blocking demands for longer access to iPads.
And because they’re a date with mothers instead of your partner they’re a chance to relax in a nice cafe or restaurant or bar without the threat of sexual favours payable in full when you finally get home.
They’re also, as happened when Tracey sat down with a bunch of mums the other night, a chance to compare notes.
“I’ve got a bit of an odd question,” one of the mums addressed the table a little hesitantly. “Is anyone else’s boy swapping or selling their lunches at school? For like, a dollar?”
Cries of ‘YES!!!’ chorused around the table, while one mum, let’s call her Mrs Pennydropped, looked thoughtful.
“That explains why I have to make two sandwiches,” she said finally.
“I heard there was one kid who brought a tray of vanilla slice to school at the beginning of the term and made fifty dollars,” someone piped in.
This time Mrs Pennydropped was much quicker to respond.
“MY SLICES! OMG, that’s where they went!”
I suspected there was to be a conversation when she got home. Master13 would be super upset if her son gets in too much trouble though – he’s really keen on his sandwiches. Although we don’t send him to school with money so buying them isn’t an option. As such, he got super excited when he checked out his own lunchbox this morning.
“Corn chips! Excellent!”
Apparently Mrs Pennydropped’s son loves them.
At this point another thought occurred to Master13.
“Don’t write this up, Dad,” he begged. “If his Mum stops making those sandwiches I will die.”
You might be wondering – as I did when Tracey chuckled her way through a deposition of the above story when she got home – what the teachers think about all this?
“You kidding?” Master13 explained to us while he shoved his cheese flavoured currency into his school bag. “They’re some of the best customers.”
Which brings me to another good reason for mums’ meet ups: they’re a chance to scheme. And the queen of scheme is my Tracey.
“You know what we should do?” she told the table of mums. “We should pick a day and all send them to school with 24 muffins. They’ll all think they’re rich!”
The plan is to flood the market and teach the lads a lesson.
Although I suspect Master13 overheard Tracey telling me this bit. He suddenly seems very interested in finding out what his mate’s favourite muffin is, assumably so he has a chance to swap whatever packet mix mock-up we send him in with something better.
Apparently Mrs Pennydropped is a really, really good cook.
Raising a family on little more than laughs
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