Sometimes I don't want to talk to people. At work my phone rings constantly, e-mails constantly, people hovering next to my desk waiting for me to finish my call so they can talk to me. Then home and listening to DS' latest Star-Wars-related insight related at machine gun speed (I have a very, very talkative child), and DH's crappy day, and then sleep, wake up, pick up the voicemails that came in overnight, and do it all again. Possibly with a bunch of phonecalls from family members thrown in, while my dinner goes cold.
Then every now and then there's a moment, a little oasis of time where I'm expecting to have a bit of peace - DS is having his swimming lesson or playing football, or I'm walking to school to pick him up... These are the only moments where I am likely not to have anyone talking to me and asking me for stuff - And ALWAYS a mum/other carer of kid comes and talks to me. I try to give 'I don't dislike you but please can I just have a moment's peace' type signals but they clearly don't work because they are interpreted as 'I am longing for someone to talk to, and what I would particularly welcome is some competitive comparisons of our child's achievements or some advice on what I should be doing, because my lifestyle is not sufficiently time-consuming'. This isn't aimed at SAHMs at all - the four worst offenders for this that I regularly come across include two grandmothers and one childminder. I suspect most SAHMs are also longing for a bit of peace...
AIBU? Are you all dying for a chat and I'm the only one who just wants to be left to stare into the middle distance for a bit? I occasionally notice comments on MN about mums who are snooty at the school gates, or who 'blank' someone and I think "I wonder if they think that about me" and then I think "No, they can't do, because I have never successfully blanked anyone, even if I am dying, just dying, for a moment where no-one is talking to me." Is that totally unreasonable of me? I'm honestly just asking.