Man-made sambos have added relish
Sunday November 29 2009
I was once out for the night with a friend when I made the big mistake of asking if her husband was babysitting. "You can't babysit your own child," she hissed.
That was me told and I've never made a similar mistake in the years since. However, a decade on, I'm beginning to wonder if my friend and I are in some barmy minority that expects men to be able to mind their own children.
Jack's pre-school is attached to a primary school, and when I was dropping him off last week we were nearly knocked down by a harried-looking man hurtling by with two little girls. "Oh, Charlie," a woman gushed after he'd got the children through the school entrance, "you got them up and dressed and at school on time -- all by yourself. Good for you!"
I had to stop and look around to check out people's clothing and facial hair as I thought I was having a Life on Mars moment and had been hurtled back in time to 1973 -- or even further. No, not a kipper tie in sight, but Charlie was still getting heaped with praise.
"They've had their breakfast," his admirer continued in an awe-struck tone that wouldn't have been out of place if Charlie had said he'd performed successful open heart surgery on his kitchen table. "And you've made sandwiches, oh my! My husband would barely manage to get them dressed."
Now Charlie, judging by appearances, is minted and I assume has a pretty important job, so why the fuss about getting two little girls their breakfast?
It's just as well I'm single. See, I'd expect a man to be able to get a couple of kids to school without the need to throw a tickertape parade in his honour. Is it time I lowered my expectations?
- Anne Marie Scanlon
Sunday Independent
