Little Susie Homemaker

So why the nom de plume Suddenly Susie? Well I’ve never been one of those women who cooked and cleaned for her man while he plays with power drills out in the shed. Hell, we even washed our clothes separately right up until Billy was born. While we did take on some gender stereotyped roles – while cooking is shared I’ve typically done most of it – ever since starting maternity leave I’ve suddenly felt myself thrust into a more traditional female role - a la Susie Homemaker.

Nine months of pregnancy should be enough to let you adjust to the idea of becoming mum. But in reality, most of the nine months is spent trying to prepare for labour (impossible!) and living in a bit of a daydream about the idea of parenthood. It can come as a bit of a shock to wake up and find ourselves receiving praise for our chicken fajitas rather than the quality of our mental input into our work, particularly for those of us who (like me) have never really had Domestic Goddess ambitions.

It’s a strange sensation to move from equal jobs and equal domestic responsibilities to me being at home and taking on more household chores while my partner has been promoted and has become the breadwinner. I have the time to cook, to wash, to shop, to go to the bank and the post office. And to be honest, at the moment, while Billy is still stationary and I’m not feeling terribly stressed, I don’t mind doing these things.

But at the moment, it feels like I’m still “playing” at house. It’s all so new it’s almost fun to have a different role from the daily grind of work. The killer crunch will come when its boring, mundane and I’m squishing work in between runs to day care, loads of washing, cooking, shopping and feeding baby. I’ve seen enough women in this situation to know how tough it gets.

So Suddenly Suzie is me, trying to cope with a life of domesticity (never my strong point) as (temporarily) stay at home mum.

NB If I’m honest, I still don’t really do all the chores. My partner vacuums (not just sometimes but always). He often does the laundry on the weekend. And he cooks a mean roast chicken.