Guardian Family: Confessions of a Full Time Mother

[morningpaper]

Confessions of a Full Time Mother

"Kirsty Gunn is not working on her next novel. She is not a columnist for the London Review of Books. She has chosen instead to disappear from the professional world and embrace a domestic life just as rich and interesting and inspiring ... "

PAH! She's opted out of the professional world - well except for this article and the book she has just written about her "year as a full time mum" - full time that is, except for the 30 hours a week that her children are at school in which I presume she fannies about writing drivel like this.

At first I thought it was an ironic joke, but sadly not. Perhaps she is friends with that woman who survived the concentration-camp conditions of Fulham after that breeze blew her wooden grapes off the sideboard...

[fortyplus]

There are very few prostitutes working to pay normal living expenses - they're doing it to fund a drug habit.

I f a woman genuinely preferred to earn her living having sex with strangers then I wouldn't have a problem with it, either.

[Monkeytrousers]

lol

I second that 40+

[expatinscotland]

Ah, but 40+, Xenia will still tell you that's free market at it's best - no government interference in the drug trade.

Never mind the cost to people.

[madamez]

Ah, the social problems caused by the criminalisation of certain drugs.. now that definitely is another thread. Anyone care to start off, leaving a trail of silver foil for the rest of us to follow?

[Judy1234]

Prohibition in the US too...
It depends.

I am pretty glad we interfered into the home and banned most smacking. A free market to abuse our children stopped.

[madamez]

Xenia, you want to trigger off a discussion on smacking??? I kind of hope that this will result in a few helpful veteran MNers supplying links to previous discussions, but kind of expect a thread or two to spontaneously combust immediately...

[Judy1234]

No I don't. Blair did not change the law as much as he might but he did ban it for all practical purposes so as long as mumsnetters are complying with the law I will not report them to the NSPCC. If it leaves a mark/is too bad then it's illegal. Very simple - in other words virtually all smacking is an illegal act, thank God.

[yellowrose]

No it isn't so much STOPPING a free market mechanism as STOPPING cruelty.

Bringing economics into a discussion on the protection of children is very strange indeed

It just goes to show how poor and abusive care is in some homes that govts. HAVE to step in to protect children.

I say this because a friend was beaten until bruised when she was a toddler. Her father was never reported and never had to answer for what he did to her.

[Judy1234]

I agree. I was only chatting. It's only very loosely the same issue - to what extent do Government interfere in markets and to what extent do Government intervene in family life.