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Being the only representative of the female species in my house, I have resigned myself to living in an all-male household. With my husband, father-in-law and two sons, the testosterone levels in the house far out-weigh the estrogen, and no matter how many times I tell myself (and others) that I am the most important woman in the house (me being the only one, of course), the truth is, I sorely miss another gal-pal ally.
The question ‘how am I looking in this?’ was one that I remember asking my mom and sister with complete trust, secure in the belief that I would get the right, non-monosyllabic answer for it. But now, with only my husband and my five-year-old son (I had to try the question on him too) as audience, I realize that men/ boys can seldom answer this question satisfactorily – ‘fine/ nice/ okay/ good’ is just not good enough, if you know what I mean.
And, no matter what a girl says, we’ve got to watch a romantic movie/ chick-flick at least once a month and exercise those God-given tear ducts. It’s a rule somewhere (and if it isn’t, it should be). That mushy feeling that only chick-flicks can give you is something that every woman should demand as her right, and alas, with cricket, news and Ben 10 vying for TV time, any girly movies that I might aspire to see are hopelessly ridiculed.
It’s a sad, sad feeling, let me tell you.
Now another thing that is part embarrassing and part bugging is that no matter how fast I get dressed, I am always the last one to get ready. For any men out there smirking about the hours that women spend getting dressed, let me tell you that it’s just the number of options that we have to sift through. A shirt and trouser/ jeans just don’t compare to the jeans/shorts/ salwar/ saree/ capris/ dress options that we have. But having said that, it is disconcerting to be the last one to walk out and find three men and a baby waiting a little impatiently for you.
And then, of course, is the all-time monster that men seem to run away from – conversation. There is no other way to say it – its hardwired into the female brain…we just need to talk. It could be about the new book we just finished, the maid playing truant, the bitchy colleague or even a discussion on the chick-flick we just saw. But men avoid it like the bubonic plague. My husband is happy to listen to me, but invite him to join in with a few precious words and poof! he’s gone.
When I danced to Geri Halliwall’s ‘It’s raining men’ in college, I didn’t imagine it would be like this. Like they say – be careful what you wish for…
psychodynamom said:
Enjoyed your post! I can’t imagine being surrounded by all men all the time.
magpietimes said:
🙂 thanks!…it certainly is ‘interesting’!
Shruti Ramaswamy said:
Hmmm. You should ask your Dad to do a reply to this post! 😀 Btw, the ‘travelling pants’ cartoon is hilarious :))
magpietimes said:
🙂 yah! i am waiting for a reply. He’ll have the ‘other side’ of the picture
arindam_maitra said:
Very well written! I have similar experience with my wife – “How do I look” question – good to know the other perspective…
magpietimes said:
🙂 many thanks…
Vijay Rajan (@vijay_rajan) said:
Now you know how your father felt with all the estrogen in is house. You know, if you were to have a Third kid to have some estrogen around, no one would say anything, whereas if a person in your fathers position (with two daughters) had to have a third child for the missing testosterone, he would be termed as biased.
Spare a thought for fathers who love their pink flowers :).
Vijay
magpietimes said:
haha Vijay…I know….being the lone ranger in either situations is not pretty.
Sunder Raj said:
Let me tell you the other side of the story……Get ready and wait, Go to shopping and wait, Give a blank stare and wait…wait, wait and wait…….with years of waiting and getting disappointed/angry you develop your ways and methods to capitalize the extra time you have..the youtube video of cricket matches, the twitter updates, and of course now this post:-)
magpietimes said:
Raj: you could always ‘talk’ about it to your wife 😉
Jyothi said:
very very funny raj……guess anuj will have the same view in a few yrs time.
Jyothi said:
Good one Rohini……only thing is as moms and being a wife we all share the same feelings……nothing abt it being an extra dose of testosterone. even if i take just 5 min to get ready….i am always the LAST!!!!
magpietimes said:
Thanks Jyothi! I suppose mom-hood is partly to blame but there is something like too much news and cricket. It doesnt happen unless the men are in greater numbers!
mommygosleepynow said:
This was me…until I had my daughter 3 months ago! Can’t wait for her to grow up so the 2 of us can really have a good ol’ chat.
( she’s talking already : pulling faces and making sounds…..a real girl in the making! )
magpietimes said:
nice! I envy you!! daughters can be fun…I know, my mom and I fight some but we are also the best of pals
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