Badges

I went out to dinner last week with two friends. (My daughter: “You have friends?”) I was asked not to use their real names, so I will call them Chrysanthemum and Cherry Plum. Or Chrys and Cherry for short.

We’ve known each other for over 20 years and became friends at work. I can’t say our first impressions were very good. Cherry was on the girly side, Chrys was a cheerleader in high school, and I could be pretty b**chy.  All still true, but we manage to see past that.

Between us, we have 8 kids. We literally got pregnant together. (Kids, lesson #1: This is a good example of where the word “literally” should not be used in a sentence.)  Though, we often spent more time with each other than with our husbands. (Kids, lesson #2: It only takes once.)

There was a time when we went for daily coffee breaks. That lasted an hour.

When I decided to quit work, we went out to lunch. For four hours. We might have had a few drinks. Before, during, and after. (Kids, lesson #3: your mothers are excellent role models 96-98% of the time.)

When the kids were little, we used to go shopping twice a year for the cutest matching outfits for them and then go out to dinner. Now, we go out to dinner and discuss, sometimes with dismay, our kids’ fashion choices.

Other things that we used to talk about: our careers, our husbands, the angst of turning 30, appointments with pediatricians, and female-specific concerns.

Things we talk about now: our kids’ careers, our (ex) husbands, the angst of turning 50, appointments with gastroenterologists, and female-specific concerns (and remedies).

Over the years, we’ve faced the challenges of career choices, marriage difficulties, and household maintenance while tackling day care arrangements, school work, after-school activities, and getting them ready for and off to college in one piece (both them and us).

I can’t say what we’ve done is extraordinary or remarkable. There are plenty of working women out there who successfully got their kids from infants to young adults.

However, I can say this:

We’ve earned our badges.

Let’s Hope We Get There